Mrs Samira Bawumia has described as a “fact”, the “incompetence” of former President John Dramani Mahama, as she and her husband, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, tagged the former Ghanaian leader in the lead-up to the 2016 general elections.

She said her jabs at Mr Mahama were not a personal attack but she felt the former president could have done more to better the lot of Ghanaians.

“I see you, I see incompetence,” she said several times on a campaign platform.

Asked why she referred to the former president as “incompetent” on Accra-based Citi FM on Wednesday, 16 May 2018, Mrs Bawumia said: “It was a fact but it wasn’t a personal attack on him.”

She continued: “I believed that he could have done more as a president. The opportunity the NDC had when they came into office in 2009, the country they inherited had so much potential and they could have taken it to a better place, and, so, it wasn’t an attack on his person, in fact, a lot of people like him, even on the NPP side, people like him as a person, and I don’t think there are many people who will not say he is not a nice person but that’s different from: ‘How are your polices affecting people or how are you impacting the lives of the people with the decisions you make?’

“What is the people’s factor in your governance attitude and I believe we should invest in people. Nobody can solve all problems but you should show a determination to do it. Your actions should suggest that you really care about the public and saving the public purse, changing lives and transforming our country.”

Meanwhile, Mr Mahama has admitted the incompetence campaign waged against his government by the then-opposition New Patriotic Party was a factor that contributed to his electoral defeat.

He told a gathering at a forum held in London that: “They kept shouting incompetence, incompetence, incompetence until our own people started believing that we are incompetent.”