Former president John Dramani Mahama has spoken for the first time since winning the National Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential flagbearership contest.
In a landslide victory, the former president polled 297,603 (98.9%) against his contender Kojo Bonsu who polled 3,181 (1.1%) in the election held on Saturday, May 13, 2023.
The Electoral Commission’s returning officer made the declaration in the wee hours of May 14, 2023.
In his speech, he said he was humbled by the vote of confidence and described the outcome as a victory for the NDC as a whole.
He thanked God for a campaign that was largely incident free as he crisscrossed the country to canvass for votes.
He reserved thanks for constituency executives for their support during his trips across the country.
He also thanked the three contenders in the race, Dr. Kwabena Dufuor, who withdrew at the last minute and Kojo Bonsu who was his only challenger.
Mahama reminded the party that their eyes must be on the ultimate prize which is to win political power come 2024.
John Dramani Mahama became president of Ghana ahead of the 2012 general election after succeeding his boss, John Evans Atta Mills following his demise.
The NDC later put John Mahama up as its presidential candidate in the 2012 presidential election where he clinched victory from his closest contender, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party.
John Mahama in 2016 lost power to Nana Akufo-Addo and subsequently failed to recapture power in 2020 when he was elected flagbearer of the NDC.
Ahead of the 2023 presidential primaries, John Mahama enjoyed wide endorsement within the NDC and was presumed the party’s flagbearer in waiting.
Ahead of the election, Dr Duffuor who is a former finance minister under the erstwhile NDC administration led by John Evans Atta Mills, had sought an interlocutory injunction against the party from going ahead with the election.
At the hearing of his application in Accra High Court barely 24 hours before the election, Dr Duffuor’s lawyers informed the court that they had been instructed by their client to withdraw the application.
Later at a press conference on Friday, Dr Duffuor announced his resignation from the flagbearership contest.
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