Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin says President John Dramani Mahama appears committed to implementing reforms but believes influential figures within the ruling party are shaping the direction of his administration.
Speaking in an interview, Afenyo-Markin said he has known President Mahama since their university days and described him as a calm, centrist leader.
“I think that Mr President comes across as someone who is determined to pursue reforms,” he said.
“Knowing him as a student back in the day, he was a calm, centrist-thinking person, and that earned him the admiration of many Ghanaians.”
However, he argued that the current administration does not fully reflect those qualities.
“From what I see so far, I think the hawks have more or less tied his hands. The hawks in the party are influencing the direction of government,” he said.
Afenyo-Markin also said President Mahama has an opportunity in his final term to end what he described as the cycle of political retaliation that has characterised Ghana’s politics.
“I think that Mr President would leave a good legacy if he is able to end this vicious cycle of ‘you do me, I do you’,” he said, adding that both the NPP and NDC share responsibility for allowing political victimisation to persist.
