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Opinions of Wednesday, 6 September 2023

Columnist: Anthony Obeng Afrane

Mahama has a contagious unifying force to heal Ghana

NDC flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama NDC flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama

Leadership is an engine of innovation that runs on unity, truth, communication, and vision. There are various types of great leaders, but the type that I admire most which is unarguably the greatest is a magnetic leader.

A magnetic leader is a listener, and has a contagious unifying force that brings people together; such leaders are not weighed down by negativity. They lead through dissidence and opposition with confidence.

Besides, the ability to forgive is probably one of the greatest allies that a magnetic leader can have, and I'm happy to state here that these are the qualities H E. John Dramani Mahama has brought to bear on the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and Ghana as a whole.

Persecution, victimisation, and demonisation of honest and innocent people could be painful, but after suffering devastating tragedies and unfair treatment, some remarkable people can put aside their anger and pain to find mercy in their hearts.

Former president, John Mahama is one of the most vilified, pilloried, stabbed in the back, betrayed, let down, double-crossed, deceived, and cheated leaders of our time: and I expected him to be bitter and hurt.

But I was wrong; he told a mammoth gathering of party supporters after a unity walk some years ago that all members of his party should forgive one another irrespective of the level of hurt; I shed tears knowing the kind of things he has gone through himself!

He never ceases to amaze me. He did it for unity, he did it for the well-being of his party and country. It’s not easy to forgive especially when you have been wronged in the worst possible way. But JDM always shows leadership, and it is incredible.

In every situation in life, unity is necessary for survival, and history has taught us the importance of unity, that if a group is united, nothing can shake or unsettle it; and it is based on this that I strongly believe the NDC is going to bounce back in style.

I have no shred of doubt about that. If the rank and file of the NDC would hold the hands of one another, and trudge down the trenches, with the support of the suffering people of Ghana, victory in 2024 would be a mathematical certainty!

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