Mounting Pressure From Critics�.President Mahama To Step Down In 2016?

The clich� now is, �if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen�, thus do not carry on with a task if the pressure is too much for you. The implication being that, if you can�t cope, you should leave the work to someone who can. President John Dramani Mahama, for some time now has been lambasted by some his own party members and close friends, for his failure to fight corruption which appears to have overshadowed his government. Head of Policy Monitoring Evaluation and Oversight Unit at the Presidency, Dr. Tony Aidoo, was one of the foremost people to dare the president to �Walk The Talk� when he (Mahama) issued a directive for all government bungalows to be connected to prepaid meters. Civil society organizations in recent times have expressed worry over the lack of demonstrable commitment to fight the canker. The freshest criticism was from a senior member of government and former Majority Leader, Mr. Alban Sumana Bagbin, who told the media he was �yet to see any political leadership in the fight against corruption�. Bagbin also accused certain people around the President of frustrating his efforts to gain access to the President to offer him private advice about how to tackle corruption in his administration. Perhaps, in what can be described as a direct rebuttal to his faultfinders over his apparent lax attitude towards fighting corruption, President John Mahama finally replied his critics, saying those who want to see him out of the presidency should wait since 2016 (Election year) is not far away from now. The President who was addressing an orientation workshop for Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives at the Local Government Training Institute in Accra Tuesday said �For those who disagree with me and are anxious to see my back, not to worry, 2016 is not too far away. I will urge them to be patient. In this difficult job, the least one expects is loyalty and comradeship�. Adding that, �Recently a few of my comrades have questioned my commitment to fight corruption. I dare say they don�t know me�. The President�s comment has generated many questions as to whether he will �get out of the kitchen� because he cannot stand the heat from his own comrades. But some NDC stalwarts say they doubt if the president will retire his post in 2016. In an Interview with Peacefmonline.com, NDC General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, known in political circles as �General Mosquito� maintained that, President Mahama will still contest for the presidency in 2016 if �he is elected in NDC primaries to lead the party again�. �Those NPP (New Patriotic Party) people who want to see the back of the president (John Mahama), they should better prepare their candidate and come and face us in 2016 but not now,� he said. Meanwhile, Information and Media Relations Minister Mahama Ayariga has also dismissed suggestions that President Mahama is contemplating stepping down in 2016. �I can assure you that by 2016 we will still want him (Mahama) to be there as our candidate (for the presidential election) because clearly the approaches he is adopting to fight corruption would have succeeded and everybody would see the wisdom in that kind of approach,� he stated.