Former Deputy Minister for Transport Joyce Bawa Mogtari has said she is not the spokesperson for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and, therefore, cannot say the party is not ready for the 2020 elections as being reported in the media.
The spokesperson for former President John Mahama had earlier revealed on Starr Chat that it would not matter if the current administration governed the nation from 2016 to 2024 because that was the beauty of Ghana’s democracy.
According to her, some officials of the party had misinterpreted her comment to mean the NDC was not ready for the 2020 election.
In a statement to clarify her comment, Ms Mogtari said: “I have read with some disappointment, news reports attributed to some officials of our party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), in which I am accused of stating among others that the NDC is not ready for the 2020 national elections.
“While no such statement was uttered by me on the Starr Chat, a personality chat show on March 08, 2017, let me also state that I have never stated or ever claimed that I am the spokesperson for the NDC or that I speak for the party.
“I remain a proud member of the NDC. My presence on the Starr Chat was, however, in my personal capacity on the occasion of the 2017 International Women’s Day.
“In response to a question about the plans of HE John Mahama, I indicated that I had had no discussions with him about contesting the next elections, and added that whether he contested the 2020 or the 2024 elections, he would still be a relatively young man and able to contest.
“The host of the show then interjected to ask whether that meant I ‘know the NPP will have eight years’, to which I responded that it wouldn’t really matter because among others, that was the beauty of our democracy.
“The above cannot, by a stretch of anyone’s imagination, be a statement from me, Joyce Bawah Mogtari, that the NDC is not ready for 2020 or that I will be happy with an eight-year rule for the NPP.”
Source: Ghana/AccraFM.com
