Mahama will jeopardise NDC's chances - Political analyst warns

A political science lecturer has warned the National Democratic Congress will jeopardise its chances of winning the 2020 elections should it elect former president John Mahama as its flagbearer.

In the analysis of Dr. Osei Bonsu of the Methodist University, nothing has changed from the events and factors that led to the “miserable” defeat of Mahama in the 2016 presidential election for him to make a comeback.

Even though Mahama has since losing the election remained tight-lipped over calls by some party members for him to declare to once again run for the party’s flagbearership, he on Saturday responded favourably to the calls.

“To you the teeming supporters and sympathizers calling and requesting me to declare my intentions for the future, I wish to assure you today, that as a servant-leader, I have listened to your calls and reflected.

“I will not disappoint you even as we await the publication of the party’s guidelines for selecting a new leader,” he indirectly declared to contest the party’s flagbearership.

Commenting on Mahama’s indirect resolve to contest the presidency once more, Dr. Osei Bonsu said such a decision “won’t help him and his party. I don’t think it is good decision politically”.

He wondered what has changed since 2016 that will cause Ghanaians to vote for Mahama.

“If you look at the 2012 elections results, it was contentious and when it went to the Supreme Court the decision was not even unanimous, it was 5/4. The 2016 election was to prove that indeed he won the 2012 elections but he lost miserably,” Dr. Osei Bonsu told Onua FM in Twi Sunday.

For him, the NDC should consider a candidate who can go beyond the 2020 elections.

“Supposing he [Mahama] doesn’t win in 2020 and Nana Akufo-Addo wins, 2024 will not help the party. If they send someone different and he doesn’t win, by 2024 NPP will be bringing someone new and by that time the NDC person would have been sold well; he would be popular by then and would have known the political terrain well,” he argued.

He observed the series of Unity Walks organised by the party as part of its reorganisation drive failed to achieve the purpose, as in his estimation, it could not unite the NDC.

“For me, the walk was rather a disunity walk. What at all did he say throughout these walks that he believes united the party? Nowhere did he say something that united the party,” he stated.

According to Dr. Osei Bonsu, Mahama was always on the neck of the government and was only good at criticising it.

Again, he said the party should have involved all the persons who have declared their intention to contest the flagbearership race in the Unity Walks.

“You shouldn’t forget there are other people who have come forward to declare their decision to contest. So if it was Unity Walk, why didn’t the party let those persons also participate and speak to the people?

“That would have demonstrated how united the party was,” he said.