Former President John Dramani Mahama says Ghana is in such a critical state that it can not afford to be further governed by a leader with little or no experience.
He said Ghana needed an experienced leader to rescue it from the current economic turmoil and not a “try-and-error” leader.
“Ghana needs experience and not experimentation… one who already knows his way around. ”
Mr Mahama said this at the launch of his campaign to be elected the Flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), which took place at the Cedi Auditorium at the University of Health and Allied Sciences in Ho, in the Volta Region.
Mr Mahama slammed the New Patriotic Party (NPP) led administration, including its presidential hopefuls for failing to take responsibility for the government’s “failure”.
He urged government officials to swallow their pride and accept that they had failed and stop blaming external factors for their “poor performance”.
Mr Mahama accused the Akufo-Addo led government for deteriorating poverty levels in the country, saying people could not stand any further damage to their conditions.
The former President said the country needed change, and that he was the only one capable of bringing that “badly-needed” change.
“The last six years have been the most difficult time. This government has been clueless and callous, the unthinkable has happened. Ghana is bankrupt, we are saddled with debts and have been downgraded to the lowest level we have ever seen.
“Who would have thought that government would come to a juncture like this? We are here because of systematic mismanagement, misguided and clueless policy choices by incompetent Nana Akufo-Addo and his Vice President Bawumia,” he said.
The former President promised to scrap the payment of ex-gratia to members of the executive should he be elected in the 2024 elections.
He said he would take the necessary steps to scrap the payment as soon as he assumed power.
“The payment of ex-gratia to members of the executive will be scrapped. The necessary constitutional steps to take will start in earnest in 2025. We will also persuade members of the other arms of government to accept its removal,” he said.
The former President also pledged to restore trust in state institutions by addressing “issues pertaining to the exercise of powers of the president, proper separation of powers, strengthening of Parliament, restoring the independence of the judiciary, independent and quasi-state institutions and depoliticising them.
“These will take the centre stage of the new administration,” he stated.
