In an article to explain why Ghanaians should choose John Dramani Mahama over Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as the next president of Ghana, Eric Delanyo Alifo, a legal practitioner, has asserted that the Electoral Commission cannot rig the 2024 general elections for Bawumia and the NPP.

He said such an attempt would bring chaos to the country.

Eric Delanyo Alifo suggested that Ghana is yearning for change and the people’s anger will surely descend on anyone who attempts to thwart the will of voters on December 7, 2024.

In the lawyer's opinion, a comparison of Alhaji Bawumia and John Mahama would show that the former lacks the requisite composure, competence, and attitude to be a better president than the latter.

He said Ghanaians do not have as much problem trusting John Dramani Mahama as they do with Dr. Bawumia.

The US-trained Ghanaian lawyer in a three-page statement copied to the media threatened that anyone planning to rig the 2024 presidential and parliamentary election to favor Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) will be doing so to incur the wrath of the Ghanaians.

He accused Dr. Bawumia of lacking the credentials required to be president in Ghana and reiterated Ghanaians do not have much problem trusting John Dramani Mahama.

Read the article below:

The Electoral Commission cannot rig the 2024 elections for Alhaji Bawumia and NPP: This is why:

This is a heavily abridged version of another article, which I wrote a couple of days ago to advise Ghanaians on why they must choose H.E. John Dramani Mahama over Vice President Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia on December 7th.

Before I recap the salient points in that article, I wish to state briefly, why it shall not be easy, or perhaps, possible at all, for the Electoral Commission to manipulate the 2024 general elections in favour of Alhaji Bawumia and the NPP.

Imagine going into an election with ten electors, eight of whom knew with absolute certainty that they did not vote for you, and yet, you are declared the winner at the end of voting. It shall be chaotic immediately, and the situation shall be uncontrollable. This shall be the scenario when on December 7th Ghanaians vote overwhelmingly for H.E. John Dramani Mahama, as is widely expected, and the Electoral Commission attempts to play any games.

Now, in my earlier article, I argued that John Dramani Mahama was more trustworthy, authentic, competent, honest, responsible, independent, and serious than Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia and therefore, John Mahama would be more reliable as the President of Ghana than Alhaji Bawumia would be. Let’s evaluate these factors concerning the two leading candidates, John Dramani Mahama and Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia.

Trustworthiness and honesty:

Ghanaians do not have much problem trusting H.E. John Dramani Mahama. In fact, many think he is even too honest as a politician. He is gentle, candid, and genuine, and he means his words. Vice President Alhaji Bawumia on the other hand, is not trusted very much by Ghanaians.

As a result of many outlandish pronouncements and promises he made when in opposition, and some, even while he is Veep, many Ghanaians describe him as a liar. Indeed, he made many promises, which he knew, or ought to have known, were unachievable, and yet, he made them just to win votes. That is recklessness and Ghanaians must be weary of such a person if he is canvassing for votes.

Authenticity and seriousness:

John Dramani Mahama is indisputably credible. He sticks to facts; he is serious when he speaks to Ghanaians; and he does not engage in theatricals, so he is worthy of belief. In sum, H.E. John Dramani Mahama seems very well-composed and “presidential.” This cannot be said of Alhaji Bawumia. His composure is problematic even if he is making very serious presentations.

It is not surprising that Mr. Hassan Ayariga described him as acting like a DJ in his recent broadcast to the nation. During such a serious presentation, one would have expected the Vice President to appear completely executive and act more formally and respectably. When Ghanaians go to the poll, they shall remember the various postures of the two candidates, and their obvious choice, who best fits the job shall be H.E. John Dramani Mahama.

Respective competences:

When Nana Akufo-Addo and Alhaji Bawumia were in opposition and Ghanaians couldn't imagine their competence for the job, Alhaji Bawumia was constantly frontal with Mr. Mahama and he never missed an opportunity to describe him as incompetent. Even Mrs. Samira Bawumia was all over the place lambasting John Mahama as incompetent.

Now, after seven years of their reign when Alhaji Bawumia was the Head of the Economic Management Team, the bubble has burst, and all the economic indicators including the exchange rate, the cost and standard of living, the corruption index, and the general performance in government have shown that H.E. John Mahama Dramani is far more competent than Veep Alhaji Bawumia. In fact, some people have even described the Nana Akufo-Addo and Alhaji Bawumia’s government as the worst in Ghana’s history.

Taking responsibility:

Taking responsibility for one’s actions is an important trait of good leadership. John Mahama does not make excuses when he owes a duty. That was why even though load shedding (dumsor) had existed long before him, he took absolute responsibility for it when it became worse under him. He pledged to resolve the problem before the end of his tenure, and he did by adding 800 Megawatts to the nation’s generation capacity.

In the case of Alhaji Bawumia, he is willing to take credit only for seeming successes but disown failures that emanate even directly from his duties. This was evident in his ill-fated address to the nation recently when he took credit for all the imaginary successes of his government but ran away from the mess including the nuisance taxes. That was when he belittled his office by describing himself as only a driver's mate.

Respective major policy proposals:

From what is put out so far by both candidates, John Mahama’s “24-hour Economy” policy proposal stands tall and is described by the General Secretary of the TUC as a “game-changer.” A great deal has been written and said about this proposal, which is targeted mainly at the youth, and at raising millions of jobs through a three-shift system, which shall reduce unemployment drastically, increase productivity and revenue, improve earnings, GDP, and the standards of living considerably.

In Veep Bawumia’s proposals, “digitalization” is what runs through prominently. To be frank, I have never been hoodwinked by the digitilization argument. The reason is that digitilization is the way forward for all nations in this global village, so whatever Alhaji Bawumia is talking about shall not be executed by only him, but by anyone who shall be the President of Ghana, including H.E. John Mahama. Indeed, most of the infrastructure necessary for digitization in Ghana was laid by John Mahama and others long before Alhaji Bawumia became the Vice President of Ghana.

Independence:

Ghanaians need to elect an independent-minded President this December. This person is certainly not Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia, whose entire political experiment is owed to Nana Akufo-Addo, Ken Ofori Atta, and Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko. Alhaji Bawumia was not known in NPP until Nana Akufo-Addo made him his running mate.

He could not have become the flag bearer of NPP if he had not been supported largely by the aforementioned, who were prepared to see NPP destroyed to install their favorite, who shall, in turn, protect them and do their wishes. It should be obvious to all Ghanaians that John Mahama is not in such a quagmire. He is the obvious on December 7th.

Effect of their respective political parties:

Notwithstanding all the arguments thus far, in considering how to vote in the 2024 general elections, we cannot ignore the effect of the political parties that are sponsoring the leading candidates. Governments are always formed from political parties that win elections. For some unclear reasons, no political party has ever been voted into power for three consecutive terms in Ghana in this Fourth Republic.

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) is rounding up its second term of eight years, and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is poised to take over as has happened since 1992. All of us have observed the difficult eight years of the NPP, where state and independent institutions and the security agencies have been heavily politicized thereby threatening their objectivity and fairness to all Ghanaians. The NPP is on “state capture,” which voters must not allow to continue. NPP must not have a third term. It must never happen.

Conclusion:

The point has been made that H.E. John Dramani Mahama is the better between him and Vice President Bawumia as the next President of Ghana. The point has also been made that the NPP has had its two terms as is usually the case in this Fourth Republic, and it is time for another party to take over.

The article has highlighted the havoc NPP’s eight years have brought on the nation. It has been established also that the election of Alhaji Bawumia shall be tantamount to giving Nana Akufo-Addo a third term in office, and the likes of Ken Of0ri0Atta and Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko shall never be called upon to answer questions about their activities in the present administration.

From the foregoing, it is obvious that H.E. John Dramani Mahama must be elected on December 7th. If anyone, upon reading this article, would not vote for John Mahama, then it may simply be a result of some unexplained hatred for the NDC and/or John Mahama. Unfortunately, this mentality shall not help contribute to building the Ghana all of us want, and it shall serve us well and prepare a better society for generations to come. Let us vote for the experienced, tried, and tested John Dramani Mahama on December 7th, 2024 as the next President of Ghana.