Deputy Roads and Highways Minister-designate, Anthony N-yoh Puowele Abayifaa Karbo, says his description of former President John Dramani Mahama as incompetent was based on the latter’s performance and not directed at his person.

To him, the margin of the electoral defeat the National Democratic Congress (NDC) suffered at the hands of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in last year’s general polls, clearly vindicates him and others of like-mind. Well, he did not quite explicitly say so.

“…the record of his (Mahama’s) administration is also the verdict of the election,” were his exact words.

Appearing before the Appointment Committee of Parliament on Thursday, a rather cool, calm and collected Anthony Karbo, when asked if on hindsight, he regrets some of his utterances, especially his labeling of the then president as “incompetent” and his militant “fire-for-fire” talk against any reconciliatory moves to calm the simmering tension between the two leading political parties – the NDC and the NPP – in the lead-up to the general elections, said the immediate past president was not inept but rather his performance in office and policies were.

“Mr. Chairman, let me clarify that, when we disagreed with the description of President Mahama as competent and people wanted us to withdraw, my point of departure was not to say he [John Mahama] is incompetent as a person, but the fact that it was based on a record,” the NPP Deputy Communications Director told to the committee.

According to the nominee, who is also the Member of Parliament for Lawra constituency, “His Excellency the president himself [John Mahama] had indicated much earlier that comparing records was an act and exercise in mediocrity. We thought that the comparing of records could end up in either describing the record as poor, good, best or better”

“Same way if the record is a competent one, clearly all the indices will show. And I didn’t think the description or the tag or describing the president as incompetent could be interpreted as direct insult on his person. I respect the former president very well and know him quite well so I will be wrong to describe him as an incompetent person, but I believe the record of his administration is also the verdict of the election,” he stated.