NDC GROUPS FIGHT FOR RUNNING MATE

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Friday, November 27, 2015

A group calling itself Volta Youth for Development has pointed out that Vice President Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur is incompetent.

It has therefore asked President John Dramani Mahama to drop him and choose the Speaker of Parliament, Edward Doe Adjaho, as his running mate for the 2016 general elections.

The jostling over who should partner President Mahama for the 2016 elections has intensified following the official order by the party to the president to initiate processes to select his running mate before the end of 2015.

Other groups are also pushing their sponsors and favourites for the NDC top position.

Urgent Demand

A statement jointly signed by Prosper Fofo Ndekor, Chairman; Godwin Kwami Nanedo, Secretary and Dedziasa Elorm, Member, indicated: “We the members of Volta Youth For Development demand from President Mahama to select the Speaker of Parliament, Hon. Doe Adjaho, as his running mate to secure victory for the party in the 2016 elections.

“The fact is, Ghanaians have seen Amissah-Arthur to be very incompetent as the Vice President to President Mahama and so our belief, which has sprung out of a research, is that his pair again with President Mahama as his running mate can only reduce the votes of the NDC drastically.”

Mr Doe Adjaho was said to be nursing a presidential ambition after his elevation to speaker, and so sees his possible selection as running mate to be the quickest route to achieving his dream.

Console Our Souls

In what can be seen as ethnocentric pronouncement, the group said the President Mahama-led NDC government had short-changed the people of the Volta Region regarding appointments to ministerial positions.

“Secondly, with the continuous strong support of the NDC by Voltarians despite our continuous neglect by the NDC when it comes to development and ministerial position assignments, we as a result deem it fit for the president and all the national executives of the NDC party to at least ‘console our souls’ with this running mate position.

“Even though Hon. Doe Adjaho has no hand in our demand, we have chosen to nominate him to be considered for this position because we see him as the best out of all the Voltarians in the NDC, which has been proven through a research of ours with respect to a majority of Voltarians in and out of the Volta Region.”

Intense Lobbying

Currently, names of several NDC gurus are flying around as the possible running mates should President Mahama decide to drop his vice.

Some NDC power brokers are said to be interested in a succession plan for the party and want the president to select a running mate who can easily step into his shoes in 2020 when he gets the mandate to rule for a second term.

Names like Foreign Minister Hannah Tetteh, Trade and Industry Minister, Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, Cocobod CEO, Dr Stephen Opuni and former NHIS Chief Executive Sylvester Mensah have all been mentioned as possible running mates.

Names of Health Minister Alex Percival Segbefia of the infamous Carl Wilson car running fame and former Deputy Chief of Staff and currently Senior Policy Advisor to the president, Valerie Sawyerr, have also popped up.

Groups like, Concerned Youth for Mahama is rooting for Hannah Tetteh while Friends of Spio-Garbrah for Mahama believes that Spio is the best for the position.

Expert’s Advice

However, a senior research fellow with the Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG), Kwesi Jonah, has warned President Mahama not to change his vice for the 2016 contest since Mr Amissah-Arthur had done enough to be retained.

 “I think Amissah-Arthur has so effectively partnered the president in these past three years that changing him will send a very wrong signal to the voters,” Mr Jonah told Starr FM, even thought he admitted that the president was at ‘liberty’ to change his running mate.

NDC Pressure

The NDC after declaring President Mahama as the flagbearer for a second term, following the party’s primaries at the weekend, asked Mr Mahama not to delay in selecting his running mate since it will help them to adequately strategise for the 2016 contest.

 “The party will strongly advise his Excellency the President to trigger the process of making our running mate known so that we can prepare ourselves for the elections in 2016,” the NDC General Secretary said.