'Do or die': Mahama is a thinker – Suhuyini

Member of Parliament for Tamale North, Alhassan Suhuyini, has stated that former President John Mahama is a thinker adding that when he listens to some of his utterances and deeds, he is tempted to think that he is ahead of his generation.

Suhuyini said this in his attempt to justify the former President’s “do or die” comments about the 2024 polls.

He said some of the things that Mr Mahama says makes sense after some careful reflection and if people don’t appreciate that they may not appreciate him.

Mr Suhuyini further explained the former President’s recent comments in anticipation for the 2024 elections, saying the “do or die” statement is just an English phrase. He thus proffered the meaning of the phrase, saying “the phrase ‘do or die’ means a grim determination to persist even if death is the result. To persist, it is not to kill, to persist even if death is the result”.

The former broadcaster said that is why Mr Mahama was careful to add that he was not saying “all die be die”. He said the former President was mindful of the English phrase he was using, hence it is not about what he means but is about what Ghanaians have been taught in school to understand the Queen’s language.

Mr Suhuyini alleged three separate events that happened in three constituencies in the past elections, thus Savelagu, Gushegu and Techiman where electoral irregularities happened but for the persistence of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) agents to forestall rigging.

When asked if such comments would not instigate people to misbehave on election day, Mr Suhuyini retorted that “are we saying that the framers of the 1992 constitution that said we should defend the constitution with our lives were calling for violence?”.

He proffered that the framers of the constitution wants the people to persist until the right thing is done because defending the constitution is the right thing.

Mr Suhuyini charged that if anyone thinks that the framers of the 1992 constitution are war mongers then he will admit that former President Mahama is a war monger. According to him, what Mr Mahama is calling for with his “do or die” dictum is simply calling on his party members to persist until the right thing is done in the 2024 polls.

He gave this exegesis in an interview with Johnnie Hughes on the New Day show on TV3, Wednesday, September 8.

Mr Suhuyini was commenting on the heels of the flaring comments uttered by former President Mahama in a radio interview on Akina FM on Tuesday, September 7, saying the National Democratic Congress (NDC) will defend their gains at the polling station with grit and that it will be “do or die”, that has received a lot of flak from all quarters in the country.

“As it is often said about Dr Kwame Nkrumah, first President, sometimes it seems he lived before his time, I mean when he marshalled resources to invest in the Akosombo Dam at the time people didn’t understand. When he spoke of the relevance of the Atomic Energy people didn’t understand because he lived before his time.

“Sometimes I listen to former President Mahama, follow his deeds and I’m tempted to think that he is living before his generation. Some of the things he says or does makes sense after some careful reflection, he is a thinker and if you don’t appreciate that you may misunderstand him”, he clarified on the New Day.