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NDC defeat was self-inflicted - Kwaku Baako
Editor in Chief of the New Crusading Guide Abdul Malik Kweku Baako says the defeat suffered by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2016 elections was largely self-inflicted.
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This was because the NDC had resorted to personality attacks and character assassination of the leader of opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-addo, according to Mr Baako.
He said the adoption of vicious strategy by the NDC campaign team made things worse for the party.
President Mahama lost a second term bid at the presidency to Nana Akufo-Addo. He polled 44.40 per cent of valid votes cast with Nana Addo winning with 53.85 per cent.
According to Mr Baako, some of the campaign messages were so vicious that President Mahama had to seek his [Baako] opinion on one such advert he (the President) considered crude.
“So to be honest with you, I think this defeat was largely self-inflicted because they got complacent, because they got overconfident and there was an element of arrogance and impunity”, he held.
Mr Baako who was speaking as a panelist on Joy FM’s Newsfile programme on Saturday said although the President had expressed disapproval of the advert and had asked his campaign team to take it off the screens, it was still circulated on social media.
He believed that the over-emphasis of disunity and division in the NPP also contributed to the defeat of the party.
He said it gave the wrong perception that the NPP was a house in disarray and could not win the election and wondered how a party portrayed as weak and dis-organised won majority seats in parliament.
Another factor that led to the defeat of the NDC according to Mr Baako was the obsession of the party over the “Green book” - a photographic compilation of numerous completed and ongoing government projects in various parts of the country.
He said the party was so fixated on the “Green Book” that even when they are asked a question about kwashiorkor , they refer to the “Green Book”.
"Everything appears to have been captured by the “Green book”. All the answers to our challenges and problems were in the “Green Book", he said.
He said NDC neglected critical issues that should have been captured in their campaign messages.
The veteran journalist stated that there was no denying of the fact that the Mahama-led administration had embarked on very important projects and infrastructure development but his campaign team overrated those achievements and pointed out that "man shall not live by bread alone".
According to him, every government faces challenges living up to its mandate and even president-elect Nana Akufo-Addo will face some of these challenges in the delivery of his promises, but asserted that elections should be more about transparency, accountability and integrity.