Former President Jerry John Rawlings has predicted a defeat for the governing National Democratic Congress(NDC) in the 2016 general elections.
Speaking on Eyewitness News, the former President said “…this[Mahama] government is certainly not going to earn us the political office in 2016. At this stage, we[NDC] are bound to lose”
According to him, the John Mahama led administration is no more attractive because the rank and file of the NDC have lost their integrity and confidence.
[contextly_sidebar id=”8NZ8dausNli4NFgXVGC13nU2QY71BJgZ”]He believes however that the situation will change if the party brings on board people who have not compromised their standards.
“They[NDC] seem to lack the sort of intergrity that is required in the leadership of this party. It appears some of them have compromised themselves, some of them have been involved in things that is making it almost impossible and difficult for them to ensure that the gear changes on the situation in the government and I believe that if we bring on board people who have not compromised themselves, people who have not allowed themselves to be corrupted by patronage or money, we could be doing better than what is going on, or what we are doing… ,“ the former President said.
Rawlings recalled that the death of President’s Mills’ made it possible for the party to retain power in 2012.
“…Just as we were bound to lose when President Mills was in office, fortunately God took him away and gave a new hope to this party and I said that at that time, the freshness of John made it possible for this party to win, this time around, he will need a rejuvenated party to stay in office.”
Rawlings earlier criticized members of the party for aligning themselves with the Kufour administration instead of holding it accountable for the corruption that took place under that government.
Improvement in Energy Crises
Rawlings said there has been an improvement in the energy crises, though some challenges facing the energy sector remain unresolved.
“There has been some improvement and I can only hope that the dumsor dumsor will be reduced so that we can have some constant flow of electricity so that we can have industry going. But there are plenty of rooms for improvement.”
“I’m not satisfied; I think we could have done much better in tackling some of these problems but it appears some of the drivers are just not good enough to be behind the steering wheel, then again you will never know till they are given the chance to sit behind the wheel. Let’s hope the president will improve on some of his choices as time goes, we don’t have much time left,” he added.
Regional and National elections
Speaking on the likely outcome of the upcoming regional and national elections, Rawlings said the party will fare well if the “tempo” and rejuvenation that took place at the branch and constituency level continues at the regional and the national levels
“If the tempo continues that is if the rejuvenation that took place at the branch and constituency level then I believe that its all well and good for the future of the party.I’m hoping the same thing will happen at the regional and the national.”
“I’m talking about the rejuvenation, people who can give hope to the membership of the party, people who are coming on board with experience, with integrity.”
By: Marian Efe Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah