Ex-President John Dramani Mahama has said he is yet to decide whether he will run on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2024 general elections.

The former statesman made the disclosure during an interview with the Voice of America (VOA).

When asked if he had made plans to run in the next general elections, John Mahama responded in the negative. “No, I haven’t.”

He explained that he will remain silent to keep the opponents guessing, “so even if I’m not running, I’m not going to say I’m not running.” According to him, information on whether he will be leading the opposition party in the December polls will be announced in the first quarter of 2023.

Providing rationale behind the aforementioned date, he said, “that’s when we hold our party’s primaries for the presidential candidacy.”

It has been reported that former Finance Minister, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, is interested in representing the party in the 2024 elections. However, comments from Dr Duffuor indicate that he is concerned about presenting a formidable NDC to go up against the ruling party, New Patriotic Party (NPP).

In November 2021, while speaking to the media, he said “The NDC has not opened any nomination for Presidency. All that we are doing now is to build a very strong party. So when we get there, we will know.”

“Let’s get to the river before we cross. We are not there yet, when we get there, we will cross and then we will know. But right now the focus is on the party and not on any individual. Soon, the party will elect its leaders but for now, we are not there yet,” he continued.

In subsequent interviews, Dr Duffuor also shied away from rating the performance of the erstwhile Mahama administration.

“I come from an area where when you inherit your brother or uncle, you don’t go in there to talk about the bad things he did. It is a taboo. You only go there to correct what he did quietly and build on that. It is a tradition.

Have you ever witnessed the swearing-in of a chief? What does he say? ‘What my brother or uncle came to do, is what I’m coming to continue. Not to come and erase what my brother or uncle did and then start all over.’ It has never happened in our tradition and should not happen in politics,” he stated.

On April 13, 2022, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) in a report stated that it expects the opposition NDC to try to revitalise its prospects with a fresh candidate although “the former president, John Mahama, is reportedly considering running again.”

In response, the party’s National Communications Officer, Sammy Gyamfi, said John Mahama is the NDC’s best bet if they are to win the 2024 election.

“John Mahama, in my opinion, is our surest bet to win 2024. This is because we got 1.5 million more votes in 2020 than in 2016. Therefore it cannot be true with Mahama; the NDC will be disadvantaged,” he said.

Currently, the two major political parties, NPP and NDC are yet to determine who would be leading the parties to the polls in 2024.

The ruling party is hoping to break the eight-year governance system. According to the NDC, this would not be possible following the track record of the government in the running of the country.

While the former statesman contemplates on his future political plans, he has called on the Presidency to cut down on its budgetary allocations as the country engages the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for an economic bailout.

Source: The Independent Ghana