Former president John Dramani Mahama has disclosed that he was included in the ECOWAS team mediation team to settle the Gambia’s election 2017 dispute because he conceded defeat in Ghana’s 2016 election to serve as an example to the former leader Yahya Jammeh.
Mr Mahama disclosed that the former leader flatly rejected his advice at the time .
Initially Yahaya Jammeh conceded defeat in his country’s 1st December 2017 election but changed his mind citing irregularities in the process.
Mr Mahama along with other African leaders went in to persuade the then Gambia president Yahaya Jammeh to step down.
Despite embarking on many international assignment he deemed the one at Gambia as the most interesting. “The Gambia one was particularly interesting. …ECOWAS met and they were going to constitute a delegation to go to The Gambia. By then, I was still president because I hadn’t handed over; yet this was after December 7 [2017] but before January 7 [2018]. So it was decided they include me in the delegation and I know why they included me. They wanted me to be an example to Yahya Jammeh because I had also lost an election and conceded.
“So, it was President Koroma [Sierra Leone], President Buhari [Nigeria], and President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf [Liberia] and then they added me as the fourth. I was still president at the time. So, we went on a first mission and the mission actually failed because we spoke to President Jammeh and he declined. He said there were irregularities in the elections. He had discovered it after he had conceded, and, so, he wanted the Supreme Court to be constituted to listen to his case. And then I tried to put in my pitch knowing the reason why I’ve been included, and I said: ‘President Jammeh, I have also just lost an election and it’s not life and death; there’s a lot more we can do together. You and I having been leaders of our countries, we can go round and engage in international assignments that help to consolidate democracy’. And his response was very typical of him. He said: ‘The imperialist can tell you what to do in Ghana, but in The Gambia, the imperialist cannot dictate to us,’ so, of course, he refused.”
Culled from Ghana Crusader
Ends
He who refuses common sense such as presidency is not “life and death”, shall live to regret it. And for such, life itself is not worth living. Word for wise is enough! President Mahama can continue to contribute positively to Ghana’s development – not from presidential pulpit but as a citizen.