A flagbearer aspirant of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Sylvester Mensah has indicated that the decision by former president John Dramani Mahama to declare his intention for the party's flagbearer slot was not his personal decision.

According to the former Chief Executive officer of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Former President Mahama was unwilling to contest the party’s ticket for elections 2020 adding that he was forced to join the race.

Speaking in an interview on Accra based radio station, “Mahama is an unwilling contestant. He has been forced to contest the polls. This election has nothing to do with who has the most resources. It is about who has the capability of leading the nation… It’s important to welcome John Mahama to the competition. Perhaps, it took him too long to make his intentions known but we are in a democratic era and so he has the right to contest.

“I may not be as resourceful as others but there is hope,”

Former President John Mahama has officially announced of his attention to run for the presidency on the ticket of the NDC again in the 2020 general elections.

According to him, he arrived at the decision after several reflection on the numerous calls by the party's teeming supporters and sympathizers to declare his intention to contest in 2020.

Mr Mahama took to Facebook on Saturday, 19 May 2018, and stated that: “To you the teeming supporters and sympathizers calling and requesting me to declare my intentions for the future, I wish to assure you today, that as a servant-leader, I have listened to your calls and reflected. I will not disappoint you even as we await the publication of the party’s guidelines for selecting a new leader”.

Mr. Mahama further noted; “I want to congratulate the rank & file and executives of our party, the NDC, at all levels for the commitment and work rate we have put into our reorganization efforts. The zeal and determination of the average sympathizer of our great party is greater and miles ahead of what it was after the December 2016 Elections. We need to keep up with the momentum generated and follow the published timelines,”