General News of Saturday, 7 April 2018
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
2018-04-07
Former President John Dramani Mahama
Former President John Dramani Mahama says although it is not easy to lose an election, it is also not the end of one’s life.
Mr. Mahama who lost the December 7, 2016 election with over a million votes to the then-presidential candidate of the NPP Nana Akufo-Addo, peacefully conceded defeat and handed over on January 7, 2017, making him the first president in the fourth republic to govern for one term.
The NPP party also outperformed the governing National Democratic Congress in the parliamentary election by increasing its seats from 122 to 169 to form the majority, while the NDC saw its representation drop from a majority of 148 to 106.
The loss, obviously a huge blow to the NDC, resulted in the setting up of the Prof. Kwesi Botchwey Committee which was tasked to find out why the party performed so poorly in the elections.
With Ghana gearing towards another major election in 2020, there has been rumors of the defeated president vying for the flagbearship of the party and subsequently standing for president again.
While the issue has generated heated debate among the NDC, with some pledging support for the former president, others believe John Mahama will be incapable of defeating the NPP in 2020.
But addressing party faithful in Wa as part of the NDC Unity Walk series, the former president said the loss in 2016 was not the end of his life.
According to him, he has experienced similar defeats during his days at the University, a situation that made him more focused and determined, leading to him winning the next position he stood for.
“The fact that you lose an election is not the end of your life. When I started my political activism it was in university. The first election I stood for was for JCR – Commonwealth, I stood for secretary and I lost and the guy who won was my friend. But we remained friends although he won the elections. I supported him and we worked together and when I went for SRC elections, he supported me.
I won and become the Legon SRC secretary. In election, you win some and you lose some but don’t be discouraged because you will live to fight another day,” he said.