A National Democratic Congress (NDC) stalwart, Betty Nah-Akuyea Mould-Iddrisu, has stated what she thinks could be one of the considerations John Mahama made in the choice of his running mate.
The former Attorney-General under the erstwhile Mills’ administration says the former President probably didn’t want to bear the yoke of imposing a candidate on the party after his term of office.
According to her, Mahama, who has just one term of office to serve, wants someone he could exit with after his tenure, the reason he re-selected the Professor in order to provide a leveled grounds for the party’s presidential aspirants in the next political season.
“The dynamics this time around is different. President John Dramani Mahama is going in for just the four-year term and as a party, we are then going into another period of choosing another leader. And I believe, maybe one of his considerations is that if I bring Naana Jane on board, then the pair of us might exit. I’m just saying that might be one of his considerations instead of the party people likely saying “you cannot impose a successor on us”, that type of politicking. So I think that might have been a consideration this time,” she told Keminni Amanor on Hot Issues Sunday, April 28, 2024, on TV3.
Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang is the first person the NDC has repeated as a running mate for a major election whilst in opposition. Since 1992, the party has always changed its running mate whenever they are not in government, making the former Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) the first to attain that feat.
The party officially outdoored her at the Kofi Ohene Konadu Auditorium at the University of Professional Studies Accra (UPSA) on Wednesday, April 24, 2024.
Several key dignitaries including Members of Parliament of the NDC, the National Chairman, the General Secretary, the Council of Elders, and stalwarts of the party, among others, thronged the event.
Delivering a speech at the event, the General Secretary of the party, Franklin Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, said that Prof. Opoku-Agyemang’s outdooring was paramount since it marked a step towards supporting their flag bearer, John Dramani Mahama, in bringing the hope and relief Ghanaians seek.
He bemoaned how the second highest office of the land which the Professor is aspiring, has reached its lowest levels in the last eight years.
Lack of credibility, lack of trustworthiness, corruption, and governance that is perceived as a joke, filled with false promises and lies were the things the NDC General Secretary likened the office to.
“In you Naana Jane, we see an individual who is not just about integrity, but an individual who will help to restore the office to the place it used to be. …. The place where John Dramani Mahama took that office when he became the Vice President of this country,” he said.
He reiterated that the vice presidential office has become a disgrace and emphasised that with Prof Opoku-Aguyemang’s arrival, the office will be restored to its place of honour.
‘I’ll not declare to the world that I was only a driver’s mate’ – Opoku-Agyemang assures Mahama
