By Stan Dogbe
I guess, like many of you on this blue app, you’ve seen and watched a video of a man sitting in the studios of a media house spewing some hogwash about John Mahama having married his running mate and a rather bizarre claim that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Running Mate is from the Northern Region and not Central.
The fact that media houses are giving oxygen to such ridiculous pronouncements is not my issue today because it has become established that in Ghana, just as it is in other countries, many of these mushrooming establishments are political outlets populated by persons who would otherwise not have had anything worthy to do but for the favour granted them by the owners of such outlets.
It is a realistic and scientific fact that the New Patriotic Party and Nana Akufo-Addo’s third-term candidate are aware that the people of Ghana have already decided the outcome of the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections.
John Mahama will not only win the presidential election emphatically; the NDC is returning to parliament with a commanding majority, winning at least one hundred and sixty seats in the two hundred and seventy-five (six) member House.
Again, we know that the ruling party and its enthusiasts are aware that it is no longer just a matter of politics that their flag bearer’s reputation is a liar, dishonest and one whose words cannot be trusted.
That reputation, together with their poor record in government, the institutionalisation of corruption both in government and through their private sector cronies, wanton acts of tribalism, and amassing personal wealth at the detriment of badly required socio-economic infrastructure in our various communities, among other things, is the reason for the loud clamour for change and for Mahama to lead our dear nation to rebuild the damaged economy.
We also do know that the pair of Mahama and Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang worsens the challenges of the ruling party as it struggles to push forward plans and narratives to tackle the electoral risks it has been confronted with, especially in the Ashanti Region, where a large number of its traditional supporters have lost confidence in them, and find in Mahama a more visionary, honest, reliable, trustworthy and a nation builder who focuses on Country and not Tribe, Family or Friends.
They think using discredited personalities, mushrooming media houses, and credulous party members to concoct stories and spread lies can help erode Mahama’s growing support base ahead of December 07, 2024.
Even the top-level decision to attack Mahama using the spurious claim of late President Mills’ death fell through, with a whole president supervising the arrangement of fake family members and chiefs into the presidency.
The irrational story of marriage, and one not from the Central Region, is the next agenda item from a meeting in which they also intend to launch another unintelligent lie: that Mahama is sponsoring an attack on Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, ostensibly to annoy the good people of the Ashanti Region and reduce Mahama’s growing influence there.
How funny! Who doesn’t know the relationship between Otumfuo and Mahama, which dates back many years, when Mahamadu Bawumia was a neophyte in politics?
The fact remains that Bawumia cannot match Mahama’s popularity and acceptance in Ashanti despite the region being the stronghold of the New Patriotic Party. Not even the planned distribution of graders and other equipment to open roads and grade them in abandoned communities of Ashanti and Ahafo will bring you any good outcomes.
We are aware of your rigging plans. We will thwart all those efforts, including the ones you are hatching with the Electoral Commission, in every corner of the Ashanti, Ahafo, Eastern and Central Regions.
We also await your Accra media friends’ launch of their corruption attacks on Mahama. You should listen to your honest researchers and consultants and desist as you have been cautioned.
I have just a few words about the man leading the running mate marriage story and disgracing himself everywhere. Was he not the same person who, together with his media houses, led the ‘John Kumah poisoned’ and other stories?
Wisdom is often associated with age, as it is believed that the older a person gets, the more life experience and knowledge they acquire. Wisdom, however, does not necessarily come with age. After all, was the aged person not once upon a time, a young person?
I have always argued, based on my life experiences with people—and I dare say I have experienced quite a lot of people at my young age—that some people, no matter what happens, will never realise that there is a difference between day and night. Some people will live their entire lives without gaining any real wisdom.
Happy Weekend.
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Stan Xoese Dogbe is a Ghanaian Journalist and Political Communications Strategist. You can contact him at [email protected]. Facebook & X Accounts: Stan Xoese Dogbe
