NDC Polls: “Alcohol addiction” takes centre stage in John Mahama/Duffuor battle

The flagbearer race of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has taken an interesting twist, with a scathing attack and calls for disqualification based on “alcohol addiction”.

Former Finance Minister Dr. Kwabena Duffuor and former President John Dramani Mahama are locked in a two-horse race in the NDC flagbearer contest for the 2024 presidential elections.

In a leaked petition available to The Ghana Report ahead of the NDC presidential primaries on May 13, 2023, Team Duffuor called on NDC party faithfuls to reject their closest opponent entirely based on incompetence, a colossal of scandals, and inability to make sound judgements to solve Ghana’s problems.

The letter signed by Kofi B. Kukubor, dated May 7, and addressed to the NDC General Secretary, said: “The current times, in which we are, requires that we do not elect a flagbearer with serious alcohol addiction issues. We need a flagbearer who will be sober enough to tackle the challenges that we face as a country”.

The letter, copied to all NDC national delegates, which could dent the fortunes of former President Mahama, further stated:
“It is for this reason that Team Duffuor is of the firm conviction that if the party’s structures cannot disqualify candidates with alcohol addiction problems, delegates must save our party and the country by voting massively against such candidates. We must see this as a call to national duty”.

Mr Mahama’s link to alcohol has reared its ugly head again, but this time, his own party members are trumpeting an issue long forgotten.

Some latest comments made by the former president have not helped matters.

While addressing farmers in Kpandai in the Northern Region of Ghana, Mr Mahama sought to give an example of the current price of a cement bag in Ghana but appeared to have mixed up the prices.

“Today, things are expensive. If you are a farmer, today, a bag of cement is GH¢800,” Mr Mahama said, to which members of the crowd murmured the actual price. “GH¢100!,”.

While some were of the view that it was a genuine mistake, others concluded otherwise due to the facial appearance of Mr. Mahama.

Mahama’s mysterious’ whisky flask’

In 2016, Mr Mahama was captured on different occasions holding a small flask with an unknown liquid content which he sipped intermittently.

The viral photos gained attention on social media for the wrong reasons as members of the public expressed diverse views about what Mr Mahama had been drinking.

In one of the photos, former President Mahama was captured with former Speaker of Parliament, Edward Doe Adjaho.

The two were seated behind a table with a bottle of water and a flask in front of former President Mahama, while the former speaker had only a bottle of water and a glass.

The flask’s content was never disclosed to the public, but some members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) concluded that the container had whisky, a claim former President Mahama never rebutted.

The flask remained an imperative accessory for Mr. Mahama on many occasions in public.

Meanwhile, Team Duffuor seems to raise an issue that could form a basis for voting to determine the next leader who will take over the reins of the NDC.