Ex-president John Mahama has described as an “unnecessary distraction” a controversial leaked tape in which a voice, suspected to be that of his party chair is heard rallying his men to violence.

Mr Mahama said members of his party must remain focused on the job and treat the content of the leaked tape with the contempt it deserves.

Speaking to scores of party members after a health walk, Saturday, the newly elected presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress for the 2020 election said the government will only seek to make propaganda capital out of the leaked tape.

According to him, it is only a worthless government with too much time on its hands that will focus on the content of the leaked tape.

“Our opponents are good at propaganda and they will come up from time to time with things to distract us. This issue of a [leaked] tape is just a distraction. Dismiss it with the contempt it deserves. Let us focus. Our message must be to the Ghanaian people,” Mahama said.

“It is only a government that has too much time on its hands because it is not working, that will have time to go and bug the office of its opponents.We do not have time for that…Let us focus our message and tell Ghanaians what we can do for them. We already have a track record. We have governed this country before and so let us focus on the things we can do for Ghanaians to make their lives better and not be distracted by the shenanigans of the NPP party,” he added.

Samuel Ofosu Ampofo

His comments come barely a week after the NDC made the headlines over a leaked tape recording in which voices including that of the party chairman Samuel Ofosu Ampofo were heard championing violence, verbal assault and kidnapping.

Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, or a voice suspected to his charged the party communicators to take the EC chair and the chair of the Peace Council to the cleaners.

“We’re going to take her [EC boss] to the cleaners.”

“As for the EC chair, we must wage a relentless war on this EC chair. Me, she doesn’t want to see my face.”

Even though he is an elder of a Pentecost Church, the voice believed to be that of the party chair said he would for the first time endorse a full scale verbal attack on Peace Council Chair Rev Emmanuel Asante.

The party has officially denied the content of the tape claiming it has been “doctored.”

The police have meanwhile extended an invitation to Mr Ampofo to assist with investigation on parts of the leaked audio which may have criminal implications.