Presidential hopeful Dr Edward Mahama has said he is embarking on a crusade to turn Ghana around.
The five-time flagbearer of the People’s National Convention (PNC) told Ekow Mensah Shalders on the Executive Breakfast Show on Class91.3fm on Wednesday, December 30, 2015, that he is “ready to fly” but wondered if the nation was ready to join the PNC in doing so.
According to the medical doctor, who first entered the presidential race in 1996, there has been a lot of pessimism in Ghana and people are discouraged “but nobody should despair”, adding that: “The weight of Ghana is sitting on those who are 18 and 35.”
With his operation ‘Turn Ghana Around’ plan, Dr Mahama said he will rally the unemployed youth between the ages of 18 and 35 years to achieve his aim of fixing the energy crisis, as well as many of Ghana’s problems if he gets elected into office in the 2016 polls.
Dr Mahama’s votes dropped from 3% from 1996 to under 1% as of the fourth time he stood in 2008. Asked by Ekow Mensah Shalders if he could turn his electoral fortunes around in 2016, Dr Mahama said even though his votes have been dwindling, Ghanaians have been listening to him.
He said he is ready to make Ghanaians “fishers of wealth” and, therefore, will not stop talking about the problems of Ghana and proffering solutions until he drops dead.
“Until these things are changed, Edward Mahama will still be there and saying ‘Ghana can do better’…I’ll press on until they say rest in peace,” he added.
In Dr Mahama’s view, “we are punishing ourselves with a system that we have put in place, which is not helping us.”
Asked by Ekow Mensah Shalders about assertions by some political pundits that President John Mahama’s poor performance in office destroys the chances of other northern presidential candidates such as him, Dr Mahama said he does not dabble in tribal politics. As far as he is concerned, President Mahama’s non-performance is a problem for the governing National Democratic Congress rather than a problem of northerners.
