My father was imprisoned for 2 years – Mahama opens up on his indecision to go into politics
President John Dramani Mahama has shared insights into some of the difficult decisions he made in his political career.
Mahama, who previously served as a Member of Parliament and Vice President, revealed that he had second thoughts about venturing into politics due to the hardships his father, the late Emmanuel Adama Mahama, endured.
He explained that his father, a prominent politician who served as a Member of Parliament for the West Gonja Constituency and the first Regional Commissioner of the Northern Region under Ghana’s first leader, President Kwame Nkrumah, suffered greatly in his political career.
According to President Mahama, his father was arrested and imprisoned solely because of his political involvement.
He added that this experience had lasting effects on his father’s well-being and made him hesitant about pursuing a political career.
“I was reluctant to go into politics because my father had been in politics, and there had been a coup that led to his arrest and imprisonment for two years.
“After that, he was so traumatized that he never wanted to have anything to do with politics. He later went into business and became a successful commercial rice farmer,” Mahama is quoted as saying in a post shared by GHOne TV on Sunday, February 2, 2025.
About John Mahama’s father
Emmanuel Adama Mahama served as a Member of Parliament during the First Republic of Ghana.
He was the Nkrumah government’s first Minister of State for the Northern Region.
He later served as a senior presidential adviser under Dr Hilla Limann during Ghana’s Third Republic.
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
