I thought I could do better than Kufuor when I was in opposition but... - Mahama

Ghanaians must not allow themselves to be misled by people who will "promise heaven and earth" in order to win power without recourse to the realities of governance, President John Mahama has said.

According to him, it is often easy to criticise a government and make huge promises when you are in opposition because you do not know the realities on the ground.

"When people are out of government, they think that it's a cake walk and I must admit it happened with me when [former] President [J.A.] Kufuor was in power. I was behaving like a spectator who thought he could play better than the footballer but when you come into office you face the realities and must make some very tough decisions".

He cited the recent American US elections and seeming dilly-dallying by winner, Donald Trump on some of his campaign promises, noting that the realities of being in government is completely from what you see when you are in opposition and it would be better to maintain his government over others who will make promises just to win elections.

Speaking on Wednesday on GTV at his turn on the Encounters with Presidential Candidates, President Mahama stated that considering the achievements of his government, there was no need  for a change in government as the change was already "happpening all around us".

"The change is happening all around us. Our economy is getting better, our social infrastructure is getting better we have the most credible job creation programme. Everything everybody else says is untested and untried", he stated.

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For him, his government has gathered enough momentum for Ghana's take off in the years ahead and a change of government was only going to delay the forward movement.

"Voting for this government means that we will maintain the momentum because when you move a ball, it starts slowly but picks but if you truncate that motion of the ball, you need to start the ball again", he said adding that "bringing somebody else to move the ball will means it take some time before it can move in an optimal manner to create a better life for our people."

"Though we have taken some tough decisions the effect is temporary and it will get better going forward", he added.