It’s commonsensical that well-marketed Mahama leads NDC again – Kwakye Ofosu

A former Deputy Minister of Information, Felix Kwakye Ofosu has said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) will win the 2024 general elections with John Dramani Mahama as the presidential candidate.

Mr Kwakye Ofosu stated on TV3’s mid day news with Komla Adom Tuesday April 19 that the current government has failed the people of Ghana through bad economic polices. This, he said, has resulted in severe hardships that the people are saddled with at the moment.

No matter what happens, he said, the NDC and Mr Mahama will win the next elections.

He was reacting to the Economist and Intelligence Unit (EIU) which had said in its five-year forecast for Ghana, released on April 13, 2022 that the NDC will win the 2024 elections but that will only happen without former president John Mahama as the candidate.

“Our baseline forecast is that ongoing public dissatisfaction with the slow pace of improvements in governance—such as infrastructure development, job creation and easing of corruption—will trigger anti-incumbency factors and push the electorate to seek a change.

“The NDC therefore stands a reasonable chance of winning the 2024 elections,” the EIU said.

The report further said that it expects Ghana’s underlying political stability to endure over the forecast period, despite a highly acrimonious party-political landscape.

The fierce rivalry between the two major parties—the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC, the EIU said, will remain the core feature of the political scene.

“A razor-thin NPP-led working majority in parliament (with 138 out of 275 seats) implies that achieving consensus on contentious reforms, including planned tax rises, will prove tumultuous. In November 2021 the minority government rejected the proposed 2022 budget bill over the introduction of an electronic-transaction levy (e-levy); this was later reversed, and the 2022 budget bill was passed by an NPP-led majority, albeit without the e-levy clause.

“Similar issues with achieving consensus on major legislation will slow policymaking and test the government’s strength throughout the remainder of its term (until 2024). We expect a transfer of power to the NDC in the 2024 elections, driven by anti-incumbency factors and public dissatisfaction with the current government.

“However, irrespective of who retains power, we expect policy continuity in the medium term, with a focus on improving food security, industrialisation and economic diversification. The new government will face similar challenges to its predecessor, but overall political stability will prevail,” the report said.

It further indicated that public discontent with the government stems from factors such as rising prices (stoked further by the Russia-Ukraine war),

But Mr Kwakye Ofosu said “no matter what happens the NPP government will lose the 2024 elections. The economy has fallen, there is massive sufferings in the country.”

Regarding the EIU’s comment on Mr Mahama, he said “I believe that there will not be new candidate. That is not just a politically-wise decision, it is a common sense approach. Mr Mahama’s records are well known.”

Source: 3news.com|Ghana