Spokesperson of National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer hopeful, John Mahama has defended his candidate’s promise to scrap ex gratia for Article 71 office holders.

Speaking in an interview on Joy FM’s Top Story, Mr Felix Kwakye Ofosu said “in any event, there is nothing wrong in carrying out reflection and introspection and determining that a number of things that may have been done in the past are no longer suitable going forward.”

According to him, it is extremely important to have leaders who are humble enough to admit past flaws and commit to correcting them to ensure the country is better to run.

He went on to say that “we do not need leaders who are obstinate, who even in the face of glaring evidence that there are shortcomings in governance insist that they are going to do the same thing.”

“So John Mahama is coming with an attitude that says – yes! Over the period at least in the last 30 years that the 4th Republic has run, there are things that we have done. There are missteps that we have taken that have not inured to the benefit of our people. I am willing to make those far-reaching changes to ensure that life is better for our people.”

This, in his view, is a noble cause that needs the support of the Ghanaian populace due to the prevailing hard times.

His comments were in response to a question posed on why NDC couldn’t scrap ex gratia during their tenure in office.

The question was borne out of former President John Mahama’s announcement, during the launch of his campaign, that if he returns to power one of his priorities will be scraping ex gratia payments to Article 71 office holders.

He noted that it is impossible for the NDC government under John Mahama to have solved all the country’s problems.

“Between 2016 and 2024, there are things that cannot be done between 2025 and beyond,” he added.