The ‘Coming Back’ is a Wasteful Venture if the Economy cannot be fixed in 4years

Pursuant to the constitutional provisions in article 66 (2) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, a person is not expected to serve as president for more than two terms. In the political landscape in Ghana, the term for a person holding office as President is four (4) years. In fact, under no situation or circumstance shall a person be elected to hold office as President for more than two terms.

However, the exception rule to the above situation is succinctly provided in article 60 (6) of the Constitution 1992.” whenever the President dies, resigns, or is removed from office, the Vice-President shall assume office as President for the unexpired term of office of the President with effect from the date of the death, resignation or removal of the President.

Furthermore, it must be clarified to the cherished readers of this article that, citing Ghana as a case study, former President John Dramani Mahama, on 24 th July 2012 was immediately sworn in as President after the death of His Excellency President John Evans Atta-Mills as his replacement. In the political history of Ghana, that was a very historic and novel moment for the good people of Ghana.

Politically, people who avail or offer themselves as candidates on the ticket of a political party to be voted as President of Ghana are by the Constitution required to possess some unique qualifications. In Article 62 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, these qualifications are clearly stated.

In analysing the economic crisis in which Ghana finds herself, one could be right to say that, Ghana’s economic outlook isn’t the best. Irrefragably, it can be said that the economy under the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo/Mahamudu Bawumia administration is in quagmire. The economy is suffocating profusely. Corruption, according to the ratings of some anti-corruption agencies such as Transparency International, Ghana has remained stagnant with a score of 43 out of 100 on the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) released by Transparency International (TI)in the last four years.

It is indispensable to state that, the 2022 Corruption Perception Index released by Transparency International (TI) rated Ghana 43 out of 100. Indisputably, this isn’t anything to write home about in the current administration’s quest to fight or stop corruption. Be that as it may, the records or scores chalked under the presidency of Former President John Mahama in the fight against corruption cannot be said to be any better than the scores obtained under the administration of President Nana Akufo Addo.

Clearly, between the duo, no one scored 50 as the pass mark. Therefore, it can be said that there is an abysmal failure in the corruption fight in Ghana. In light of that, it will defy the principles of integrity for any of them to tout themselves as having been able to fight corruption despite their efforts.

Why was Former President John Mahama voted out in 2016?:

In the run-up to the 2016 general elections, a plethora of issues such as (a) widespread corruption, (b) Youth unemployment, (c) High inflationary rates, (d) high-interest rates, (e) Power outages (dumsor), (f) Collapse of businesses, (g) General economic hardship among others formed the basis of the unprecedented electoral defeat suffered by former President John Mahama.

In fact, in the 2016 Presidential Election, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo garnered a whooping valid votes of 5,773,299, statistically representing 53.6% while his contender former President John Dramani Mahama also garnered valid votes of 4,800,737, statistically representing 44.6%.

Why did Former President John Dramani Mahama lose the 2020 Presidential Elections?:

Conventionally, in the political history of Ghana, hardly will a sitting president lose an election. In fact, it is uncommon for a sitting president to seek re-election and then lose it. However, the electoral trend has been that there is always a reduced number of votes in the election compared to the previous election.

Significantly, John Mahama lost the 2020 Presidential Election and he petitioned the Supreme Court for some alleged electoral infractions. However, the verdict handed down by the Supreme Court upheld and affirmed the declaration made by the Electoral Commission chairperson Jean Adukwei Mensah.

Former President John Dramani Mahama yet again in 2020 stood for president on the ticket of NDC in the 2020 Presidential Election. This time round, history repeated itself at the end of the election as said by our elders.

Consequentially, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, NPP’s presidential candidate obtained a whooping valid votes of 6,692,630, representing 51.2%
while Former President John Dramani Mahama, NDC’s presidential candidate also obtained relatively close valid votes of 6,170,492, representing 47.2%. Clearly, John Mahama lost the 2020 Presidential Election basically due to the reason elucidated supra.

Why the Coming Back of John Mahama?:

Glaringly, the million-dollar question on the minds of many a Ghanaian is why does John Mahama want a political comeback in the political landscape in Ghana? Copiously, former President John Mahama is on record to have said that the 4year term for the President is woefully insufficient for any sitting president to rule this country and achieve anything monumental in terms of policies, plans, and programmes implementations.

Dr. James Kwabena Bomfeh Jnr., a regular panelist on the Peace FM Kokrokoo Show aptly hosted by Kwame Sefa Kayi likes quoting this proverb, “Cows are trapped by their horns, men are by their words.” By application of the proverb quoted supra, John Mahama is trapped by his own words. Thus, the legitimate question worthy of asking is, if 4year term is woefully insufficient for any president to do anything monumental in governance, what then is he coming back to do in governance?

Obviously, should John Mahama be voted as President of Ghana in the 2024 Presidential Election, he will serve for only one term (4years). Seriously speaking, the writer of this article worries that, if the myriad economic quagmires confronting this country (Ghana) cannot be fixed in 4years what then is John Mahama coming back in governance to do? In fact, could anything significantly good come from Nazareth?

The writer of this article exercises the reservation and the right to disagree with anyone who believes that the economic downturn faced by Ghana can be fixed by John Mahama in his supposedly second coming. In fact, evidence abounds as to how abysmal the management of the economy was under the presidency of John Mahama. To say the truth, the Ghanaian electorates are by this article, advised to subject John Mahama to his own words said in some time past relative to no president can do anything monumental in his first 4year tenure.

Conclusion:

I conclude this article by reiterating the fact that, according to the words copiously said by John Mahama, “no president can do anything significant in his first 4-year term.” So, now that if he [John Mahama] is elected the President of Ghana he has only one term to serve. The question is, what can he do to significantly fix the economic woes faced by Ghanaians? In my well-reasoned calculations, the Ghanaian electorates are respectfully entreated to vote against John Mahama in the upcoming 2024 Presidential Election. However, this assertion is premised on the fact that, virtually, John Mahama has no business coming back in governance.

In fact, from his own records for which reason he has suffered two major electoral defeats, he is coming back to cause more grievous damage and nothing more. From the statistics released by the Ghana Statistical Service, and Bank of Ghana, Foreign rating agencies such as Bloomberg inter alia are pointing to the fact that the economy of Ghana is bouncing back. John Mahama’s comeback is a complete scam. He should, however, be voted against for the third
time in body politics.