The loss of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2016 general elections was not only a defeat but a rejection, hence the party needs a new leader for successive elections, former President Jerry John Rawlings has said.

He said the NDC lost the elections because it betrayed the principles of the revolution probity, integrity and accountability.

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In a speech on Sunday June 4, at Wa to mark the 38th anniversary of the "June 4 Revolution," he said the lost the 2016 elections for abandoning the ideals of the June 4 Revolution.

Using the horse analogy as an example, he said "Not too long ago, I thought we heard the jockeys claiming the horses were responsible for this disgraceful failure, while one of the horses was bold enough to lay the failure at the doorstep of the jockeys.

"For me, we lost our masses because we betrayed the values of June 4.

READ MORE: NDC lost 2016 election for abandoning ideals of June 4 revolution - Rawlings

He accused the party he foundered of amassing so much wealth so as to use it as a political weapon to "perpetuate and be kingmakers."

"How we can grab so much money and now use it as political weapon to perpetuate and be kingmakers. If I was doing it this way, if any of my colleagues and I were doing it this way, would any of them be where they are today? No. we believe in justice and fairness, true democracy.

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"We squandered many opportunities to clean up and to restore the June 4 principles in the party. …Nobody is saying don’t make money, make it good and clean. … [It’s] sickening the kind of greed and selfishness [prevailing], look at where it landed us," he said.