Former President John Dramani Mahama, the NDC presidential candidate for the December 7, 2024 elections has said the next NDC government would offer an inspirational and compassionate leadership rooted in integrity, truth, justice, and accountability.
“We must steer the country back onto genuine progress and transformation.
This is the kind of leadership the NDC offers to the people of Ghana in the upcoming December 7 elections.
“Leadership that will be honest with the people, reject extravagance, tackle corruption, and invest the nation’s resources wisely to create prosperity and opportunities for all,” the former president stressed.
He gave this indication in an interaction with the clergy in Accra yesterday.
According to Mr Mahama, the current leadership has failed the people resulting in eroding confidence Ghanaians have in democratic governance.
In his view, young people in Ghana no longer believe that the state cares about them or is committed to providing opportunities for them.
Citing a recent Afrobarometer survey which revealed that more than 80 per cent of Ghanaians believed the country was headed the wrong direction, the former president said there was the urgent need for change to reset all facets of the country’s socio-economic environment.
“We need a reset of our governance, our economic models, and our attitudes and values. Unfortunately, the current leadership is blissfully unaware of the abyss into which they are plunging our nation.
“Arrogance and impunity continue to be the order of the day. Systematic looting of state resources and rampant nepotism and cronyism have become a normal way of life,” he stated.
According to him, the harsh reality is that the Ghanaian economy has been disastrously mismanaged, leaving citizens in the severest economic and debt crisis the country has ever experienced.
“We are all feeling the consequences of this leadership failure, yet those responsible refuse to acknowledge their role and instead blame everything and everybody but themselves,” he observed.
Human rights violations and the deliberate undermining of state institutions, he said, have undone the progress made under the previous NDC government, bringing immense hardship to Ghanaians.
He noted that whilst the soaring cost of living had plunged many into poverty, with countless businesses on the brink of collapse, the debt exchange haircuts have eroded the incomes and savings of the Ghanaian middle class and pensioners.
“Our natural resources, including water bodies and forests, are under severe threat from illegal mining driven by the greed of our leaders. This poses a grave danger to our survival,” he stated.
In the face of these leadership paralysis, Mr Mahama said many would have expected that, at the very least, the leaders would listen to wise counsel and correct their course when heading down the wrong path.
“Unfortunately, that humility is absent in those who have governed us for nearly eight years.
Ghana urgently needs leadership that is inspiring and compassionate, rooted in integrity, truth, justice, and accountability…and this is the kind of leadership the NDC offers to the people of Ghana,” he said.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
