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Often in Africa, after the outcome of any presidential elections, if it doesn’t favor the incumbent mostly endangers the unity of that party.

And that appears to be what is happening to the National Democratic Congress [NDC].

Mr. John Dramani Mahama despite his fabulous achievements across the country which positioned him as the favorite to win the 2016 election lost terribly to NPP’s Flagbearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo.

Nana Akufo-Addo recorded 53.85 percent of the valid votes cast to become Ghana’s fifth president under the fourth Republic.

John Mahama whose party leadership thought he was “in a comfortable lead” secured 44.40 of valid votes cast.

The former president’s defeat makes him the first incumbent to lose an election since Ghana returned to multi-party democracy in 1992.

However, the former NDC leader has affirmed his commitment to the ‘Umbrella’ fraternity regardless the brouhaha within the party leadership as to what led to their loss.

To him, every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time.

He has thus urged fellow members to do same whiles the party is in opposition and cease from trading insults and apportioning blames in the media.

“”Our fortunes are tied in with the party and we are commitment members of the party so we must work to make sure that we put the party in a state where it is able to contribute to the progress of this country even in opposition by making sure that we provide the kind of opposition that safe guards the interest of the people. So that is why we need to rally around together as quickly as possible," he advised.

Discussing the state of the NDC with his former party appointees at his residence in Accra, Mr. Mahama described the blame games within the party as “needless” and “unhealthy” to the party’s growth.

According to him, members of the party must comply with a 13 member committee that has been set up to investigate what led to their defeat in the December 2016 elections.

The committee, chaired by Professor Kwesi Botchwey, a former government official and Professor of Practice in Developmental Economics will among other things examine the strategies adopted by the campaign team which led to the gargantuan defeat.

But before the committee will come out with its final report – members are already pointing fingers at each other.

A situation the former president conceives as ‘unnecessary’ to the party’s preparation towards election 2020.

“The unfortunate developments that are taking place, we’ve set up a committee that is supposed to go round and analyze the reasons for our loss. People are not taking the advantage of the committee but going on air and saying this person was the cause of our loss and that person was the cause of our loss” he lamented.

Adding that - “But I have said the cause of our loss is multifaceted and we need to do a careful analysis of it and get the report and be able to break down exactly what resulted in our loss. Of course, as the general who led us to battle, I take ultimate responsibility for our losing the election. So if it will satisfy those people, blame me for the loss. Yes we lost; we should have done some things better, but let use this opportunity as a learning opportunity to be able to make sure that we don’t make the same mistakes that we did in 2016”

As to who will lead the NDC in 2020, the John Mahama said – “I believe for people talking about leadership and presidency is absolutely premature. If you ride a lame horse to a race and you lose the race, your priority must be to cure the lameness of the horse and not about who will ride the horse again.

“…You have to cure the horse and make sure it no longer lame, and once you have a fit healthy horse it will show which jockey should ride it. And so absolutely I think that the issue of leadership is based on the dynamic of the time. We should do our work well and have a strong healthy party, that will tell who should lead the party. I am a committed party member and will support whoever leads the party”