Former President John Dramani Mahama has taken responsibility for the defeat of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2016 elections.
Diagnosing the defeat of the NDC in last year's elections, former President Mahama noted that the loss of the party should not be blamed on an individual though he would accept the blame because he led the party into battle.
He however noted that several factors led to the party's defeat and so should analyze their loss to ensure they don't make similar mistakes again.
The defeat of the NDC has since become a debate within the party with some NDC kingpins laying the blame on the former President.
Key among the critics is the Member of Parliament for the Fanteakwa South Constituency, Hon. Kofi Okyere Agyekum who in an interview with Citi News lambasted the former President asking "who else is to be blamed when the general performance of the government was bad, insults here and there, arrogance, poor leadership, incompetence and corruption were all hovering around his government?"
Speaking to former Ministers and Deputies as well as Presidential Staffers in Accra on the loss of the NDC, the Ex-President Mahama took full responsibility for the party's loss but called on them to remain resolute and reorganize themselves to make the party stronger.
“I’ve been meeting with FEC and the elders; the chairman of the party is now the leader according to our constitution but all of us are members of the party. We’ve served at high level of government and so we have a role to play both as ex-president, ex vice president, as ministers of state and our fortunes are tied in with the party and we are committed members of the party so we must work to make sure that we put the party in a state where we are able to contribute to the progress of this country even in opposition by making sure that we provide the kind of opposition that safeguards the interest of the people.
“And that is why we need to rally around together as quickly as possible. We have set up a committee that is supposed to go round and analyze the reason for our loss. People are not taking advantage of the committee; they are going on air and apportioning blame. But I’ve said that the cause of our loss is multifaceted. And we need to do a careful analysis of it, get the report and be able to break down exactly what resulted in our loss. Of course as the general who led us into battle, I take ultimate responsibility for our losing the election and so if it will satisfy those people, blame me for the loss. Yes we lost; we should have done some things better but let’s used this opportunity as a learning to be able to make sure that we don’t make the same mistakes that we did in 2016," he further said.
He also pledged his full commitment to the party, saying "whoever leads the party, I'm a committed member. I will support that person to the hilt. And so going on air and blaming so-so for this and that, I don't think it helps the unity. At this time, we must be standing together".
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