Mahama regrets his communication style as president

The flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress, John Dramani Mahama has promised to become a better president if re-elected into office.

Pouring his heart out, the former president said one of his regrets was not speaking directly to the people.

Marketed to Ghanaians as a communication expert, John Mahama nonetheless has faulted his style as one of his regrets while in power.

This, according to him, is one of the key things he is going to change when given the nod in the upcoming December 7 polls.

“One of the regrets I have is that in my time in office, I didn’t speak directly to the people, to let them understand what we were doing so the vacuum was filled with a lot of propaganda.

“Propaganda from the opposition, making all sorts of accusations that didn’t exist and so if I have another opportunity for the second time I will speak more directly to the people,” he stressed.

The NDC flagbearer also mentioned that beyond the work done by the information ministry, the president ought to be seen engaging the people “eye-ball to eye-ball.”

“Often when you become president, you have a communication minister, information minister and all kinds of people speaking on your behalf but I think the president has to do eye-ball to eye-ball with the people.

“When I was in office I knew what we were doing and I could explain what we were doing at every sector. It has to be regular, not once a year like the meet the press encounter,” he said in a Starrfm interview monitored by theghanareport.com.

Since leaving office, John Mahama has sought to use social media much more in communicating his message.

He has done several live interactions on Facebook and streamed his press conferences there.

His political rival, Akufo-Addo, on the other hand, has been embarking on regional tours of the country almost every year since he came into office.

He began with a ‘Thank You’ tour in 2017, months after he was sworn-in. Before Covid-19, Nana Akufo-Addo toured the Greater Accra region.

As Ghana recorded coronavirus cases, the president shifted to speaking to the nation earning him another nickname ‘Fellow Ghanaians’, his opening sentence in all his 18 addresses.

Ghanaians are set to vote on December 7th, 2020 with John Mahama now challenging the incumbent, Nana Akufo-Addo. This would be the third and final time the two political rivals face each other in a presidential contest.

Both have won one apiece.

The election has more than a dozen contestants deemed by political watchers as also-runs.