Former President, John Dramani Mahama, says the poor showing of the senior national team, the Blacks Stars, in recent times is a testament of the mismanagement of the various sectors of the Ghanaian economy by the current government.
In his view, the failure of the team to qualify for the next African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Morocco was a reflection of the broader issues Ghana was confronted with.
The four-time African champions failed to secure a spot at the next continental showpiece after accumulating only three points from a possible 18, finishing bottom in a group with Angola, Sudan and Niger.
The team has also failed to win a match at the last two editions of the competition; crushing out at the group stage on both occasions.
This trend, the former president noted, demonstrates that things have taken a nosedive under the current administration with football not an exemption.
Addressing a rally at Kade on the second day of his campaign of the Eastern Region, Mr Mahama, the presidential candidate of the NDC, indicated that the NPP’s mis-governance had not affected only core services but the country’s hyped status in global football.
“Under the NPP government, nothing is working. Every sector is struggling. Even the Black Stars, who once helped us forget our struggles, have missed out on AFCON qualification for the first time in 20 years. It shows just how deeply things have deteriorated under this administration,” the former president stated.
In this regard, he charged the voters to kick out the NPP government at the polls for the country to be reset.
The campaign took the former president to Asene Manso Akroso, Achiase, Akim Swedru, Akim Oda, Ofoase Ayirebi, and Akwatia constituency.
Earlier at Akroso, former president Mahama said, “This is not the Ghana I handed over to president Akufo-Addo and the NPP.”
Indicating that the youth would be the focus of his government, John Mahama pledged to upgrade the Akroso polyclinic to a hospital status.
At Ofoase, he entreated disappointed NPP members not abandon their constitutional obligation but to come out in their numbers and vote for the NDC.
Despite being the stronghold of the governing party, the former president and his entourage were mobbed wherever he went with calls for his return to government.
Moreover, the former president also got the endorsements of the chiefs of Akroso, Aprade, Aduase, Kade and Akwatia to return to the seat of government
FROM JULIUS YAO PETETSI, KADE
