Why was ‘visionary and competent’ Mahama voted out in 2016 and 2020?

Former President John Dramani Mahama began his political career first as an assemblyman, then as a parliamentarian, a deputy minister, a substantive minister, a vice president, an acting president, an elected president of Ghana, and the 2016 and 2020 flagbearers of the NDC.

Interestingly, however, on December 7, 2016, about 55.6% of the electorate expressed their disappointment in his performance as the first gentleman of the land by showing him the exit. He lost by a huge margin of over one million votes. Indeed, it was the first in the history of Ghanaian politics.

The reflective observers thus found it extremely bizarre when the former president decided to wrestle with 2020.

Observers would rightly contend that former President Mahama had enough opportunity to show discerning Ghanaians his ability to steer Ghana in the right direction but wilfully failed to do so and was rightly rejected by over one million electorates.

The sceptics would thus quiz in amazement: ‘What can Mahama do differently at the presidency next time around’?

But despite the unpardonable mismanagement that brought about his heavy defeat in the 2016 and 2020 general elections, the former president holds a faint hope that he will bounce back and recapture power in 2024.

The critics, however, insist that it will be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for the NDC to return to power anytime soon with former President Mahama, judging from the unprecedented economic mess he left behind.

Given the circumstances back then, we can confidently conclude that 55.6% and 51.2% of electorates were not happy with former President Mahama, hence showing him the exit in the 2016 and 2020 general elections, respectively.

The overarching question then is: what will make the unhappy 55.6% and 51.2% of
electorates change their minds and repose their absolute trust in Mahama in 2024, given the catastrophic decision-making during his time in office?

More so, it is quite ironic to keep hearing and reading the NDC loyalists' flimsy excuses that the loyalists of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) maliciously lied about the NDC's incompetence and corrupt practices and deceptively pledged juicy, albeit unachievable manifesto promises that led to their 2016 and 2020 landslide victories.

With all due respect, the teeming supporters of the NDC must engage in a carefully considered reflection and accept the painful fact that Mahama’s dreadful errors in judgment, which unfortunately sent Ghana’s economy deeper and deeper into the mire to some large extent, cost them the 2016 and 2020 elections, not the supposedly ‘wicked’ lies put out by their opponents.

During Mahama’s time in office, Ghana’s economic growth regrettably slowed for the fourth consecutive year to an estimated 3.4% in 2015 from 4% in 2014 as energy rationing (dumsor), high inflation, and ongoing fiscal consolidation weighed on economic activity (World Bank, 2016).

Besides, the high inflation rate remained elevated at 18.5% in February 2016 compared to 17.7% in February 2015, even after the Central Bank’s 500 bps policy rate hikes (the inflation stood at 15.4% as of October 2016).

Even though there were no ecumenically diffused coronaviruses and the intractable nature of the Ukraine-Russia conflict, President Mahama did not work his socks off to improve the socio-economic living standards of Ghanaians.

Take, for example, that former President Kufuor worked strenuously and quadrupled Ghana’s GDP to a staggering GH28 billion in 2008, and the late Mills inherited oil in commercial quantities and managed to increase the GDP to GHC47 billion by 2011.

Ex-President Mahama disappointingly dragged the GDP to an incredible GHC 40 billion as of December 2016.

Former President Mahama wilfully made Ghanaians sleep in darkness for well over four years amid crippling businesses and industries.

In the gloomy days of Dumsor under the Mahama administration, we witnessed the plangent buzzing of generators all over the country. Most businesses folded up amid massive unemployment.

In those days, self-employed people like hairdressers, Ice Kenkey Sellers, and butchers, among others, were the worst affected.

The revoltingly annoying and costly buzzing of generators across the length and breadth of the country, unfortunately, went on for well over five years to the utter dismay of the good people of Ghana.

Considering the negative effects of dumsor, it would only take a disputatious character to suggest that discerning Ghanaians have soon forgotten and forgiven Mahama for wilfully collapsing their businesses through dumsor.

Given the circumstances, we can understand how and why some concerned Ghanaians,
some supporters within the NDC have been expressing their disgust over former President Mahama’s desperation to return to the presidency after being voted against massively in 2016 and 2020 due to his abysmal performance.

Former President Mahama and his NDC administration regrettably failed to end the dumsor, failed to implement the one-time NHIS premium, jobs were not readily available for the jobless, the economy sunk deeper and deeper into the mire, Ghanaians became poorer and poorer, sleazes and corruption escalated to immeasurable proportions, amongst others.

But despite the conspicuous economic meltdown back then, President Mahama and his apologists ridiculously kept trumpeting their vague rhetoric, political insobrieties, and meaningless slogans: Mahama Tuaso’; ‘We care for you’; ‘people matter, you matter’; ‘we are transforming lives’.

Meanwhile, the good people of Ghana were struggling endlessly to pay their utility bills and could not even afford their children's school fees.

Incredibly, back then, whenever the suffering Ghanaians complained about the economic hardships, former President Mahama and his vociferous communicators would ungraciously chastise the same people who gave them the electoral mandate for expressing their grievances.

Former President Mahama, regrettably, could not pull his weight but only managed to undo all the excellent performances put in by his predecessors. Take, for example, Mahama, which dragged economic growth from 14% to 3.4%, GDP of GH47 billion was reversed to GH40 billion, agricultural growth of 7.5% was dragged to 2.5%, and single-digit inflation was moved to 15.4%.