[ 2017-03-10 ]

Former President John Dramani Mahama

Mahama bounces back
Posters indicating a possible return of
ex-President John Mahama for the 2020 elections
are surfacing.

The poster displays a beautiful picture of the
ex-president wearing a black and white smock with
the inscription, “John Mahama for President
2020”and an additional message underneath the
opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC)
umbrella logo which reads, “Still Changing
Lives…Still Transforming Ghana.”

Dubai Trip

President Mahama reportedly jetted out to Dubai
immediately after attending the 60th independence
anniversary national parade at the Independence
Square, Accra, on Monday where he celebrated his
wife, Lordina’s 54th birthday with their
children using a red colour.

It is however, unclear who might be behind the
posters, as the former president has not also made
any official statement announcing a comeback or
otherwise.

But his spokesperson, Joyce Bawa-Mogtari, says
talks over whether or not John Mahama would make a
comeback to lead the NDC in the 2020 general
election after sending it to opposition were not
over.

According to Ms. Bawa-Mogtari who was the campaign
spokesperson for the John Mahama 2016 campaign
team, the former president still receives numerous
calls from high-ranking party members persuading
him to soften his earlier stance which suggested
that family members had advised him against
leading the NDC in 2020.

She told pro-NDC Radio Gold on Wednesday that
the former president constantly ignores
discussions of his possible return to active
politics and that he is yet to make up his mind.

Bawa-Mogtari, a former deputy transport minister
under the Mahama regime, indicated that she is for
‘Mahama 2020.’

‘Thank You’ Tour

There are unconfirmed reports that the former
president is going to embark on a ‘Thank You’
tour nationwide when he returns from Dubai. Some
party sources have said he is going to use the
tour to ‘test’ his popularity and make a final
determination on whether he would contest for the
NDC in 2020.

DAILY GUIDE learnt that the tour could be
undertaken with party people and some opinion
leaders coerced to openly canvass for his return
to form the basis for his declaration to contest
the 2020 polls.

He had wanted to embark on the ‘Thank You’
tour last December after he had failed to secure a
re-election but changed his mind following
criticism that it was imprudent to do so,
especially coming at a time the NDC had been
defeated by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the
government was on its way out.

New Candidate

DAILY GUIDE has learnt that there is going to be a
keen competition in the NDC over who should be the
party’s candidate for the 2020 presidential
election. Majority within the party’s leadership
are said to be looking for a new face to lead the
party, but others have moved forcefully to get
President Mahama to contest again.

Names like former Finance Minister Dr. Kwabena
Duffuor,  former University of Professional
Studies Accra (UPSA) Rector Prof Joshua Alabi and
former National Health Insurance Authority (NHIS)
boss Sylvester Mensah are coming up strongly
within the NDC circles. Dr Duffuor and Sly Mensah
have denied any interest in the NDC flagbearership
race for now.

However, probable candidates like former Vice
President Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur and former
Trade and Industry Minister Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah
are said to have ‘cooled’ down their interests
in the race and it is getting clearer that the two
stalwarts may not contest at all. Goosie Tannor, a
cadre, has also come out strongly for the NDC
presidential candidature slot.

Family Pressure

Already, family members of ex-President Mahama
have reportedly been persuading him not to contest
the presidential election in 2020.

Some analysts have said the huge gap of over one
million votes garnered by President Akufo-Addo
against Mahama showed that the ex-President will
have a daunting task if he considers contesting
again for 2020.

During the period of the investiture of President
Akufo-Addo, the junior brother of the
ex-president, Ibrahim Mahama said, “John has
given his all in politics to the NDC and Ghana and
we think it is just fair that we allow him to
rest. We were very supportive and instrumental in
convincing him to partner Prof. Mills, and when
the time came for him to contest for president, we
supported and advised him to go for it…now we
have advised him not to make a comeback in
2020.”

Comeback Dream

However, ex-President Mahama appears to want to
give it another shot and there are ongoing
behind-the-scene moves to ensure that the comeback
agenda is on course.

An NDC source alleged that before Mahama emplaned
for Dubai, “he met some people and urged them to
stage-manage as if NDC people were calling on him
to contest.

“He wants to start it by a ‘Thank You’ tour
across the country but for now, we are still
searching for who is going to lead us in 2020.”

Cadres Front

According to the source, the NDC is looking for
what he called ‘a grass root party person’
whom the cadres have deep trust in since they were
of the view that they were neglected by both the
Mills/Mahama administrations.

Source - dailyguideafrica.com

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