New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has
set in motion a process to select a running mate who is acceptable to
the rank and file of the party.
Nana Akufo-Addo, DAILY GUIDE
learnt, has empanelled a search party to advise him on the choice of a
running mate by digging into the background of all the probable choices.
The
search committee, whose membership is being withheld for certain
reasons, has started talking to the possible contenders and evaluating
them as well as examining their dossiers.
Some of the encounters
with the contenders have been very revealing, DAILY GUIDE has learnt.
The committee is examining the records of those people whose names are
already in the public domain including ministers.
According to
sources, the committee has spoken to Hajia Alima Mahama, Minister of
Women and Children’s Affairs; Alhaji Abubakar Saddique Boniface,
Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing; and Lepowura Nurudeen
Mohammed Jawula, Chief Director of the Ministry of Health among others.
Incidentally, all the three prominent front-runners in the race to partner Nana are Moslems.
Other
contenders whose names have popped up are Alhaji Rashid Bawa, former MP
for Akan and currently Ghana’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia; Alhaji
Mustapha Idris Ali, Northern Regional Minister; and Alhaji Malik
Alhassan Yakubu, Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament.
The rest
are Madam Oboshie Sai-Cofie, Minister of Tourism and Diasporan
Relations; Prof Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi, Minister of Railways, Ports
and Harbours; Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Deputy Governor, Bank of Ghana; and
Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas, President of ECOWAS Commission.
Interestingly, Sheikh I.C. Quaye, Greater Accra Regional Minister’s
name seems to have disappeared from the running mate radar as his
lobbyists seem to have gone to sleep.
Even though August has
been suggested as the month in which the name of Nana Addo’s running
mate would be announced, DAILY GUIDE learnt that it may come a month
earlier than that, as the flagbearer is eager to unveil his partner.
Supporters of the contenders have suddenly sprung into action, selling the credentials of their candidates.
With
the pendulum likely to swing to the North, the contenders from that
part of the country are leaving no stone unturned in their efforts to
catch the eye of the NPP flagbearer and the search party.
In a
rather desperate attempt to outdo one another, some contenders are said
to be circulating damaging documents about their colleagues in order to
have an upper hand in the whole caboodle.
A section of them is
citing religion and marital status as their trump-cards, ignoring
resourcefulness and charisma for attracting votes.
To some, it is only a matter of partnering Nana Addo, rather than adding value to the NPP 2008 ticket.
However,
a leading member and National Treasurer of the party, Madam Gifty
Asantewaa Aryeh, popularly called Daavi Ama said most of the people who
are jostling to partner Nana Addo do not merit it.
According to
her, the running mate slot is not ‘an icing on the cake’, and that
nobody should stampede the flagbearer into naming his partner.
Daavi
Ama noted that most of the names mentioned are unknown in the party,
warning against giving the position to ‘a complete stranger’.
She
was particularly angry by the mad rush by people of northern descent to
partner Nana, saying the running mate slot was not a preserve of
northerners.
“Nowhere in the NPP or the national constitution
was it stated that only one particular region or religion should carry
the No. 2 slot,” she said.
She asked the kingmakers in the party
to put their ears to the ground and listen to what the party people
want, reminding Nana Addo that he should not abandon the “yenim wo fre
tete” concept which propelled him to victory at the Legon congress of
the party last December.
According to her, it would be demotivating to select somebody who has no track record in the party.
“I
noticed immediately after my party’s congress in December, some names
springing and shooting up like mushrooms,” she pointed out, noting that
there are edible and poisonous mushrooms.
“I just smile about some of the names. Some of them tickle me to the extent of shedding tears,” she said.
Source:Daily Guide
