Immediately former President John Dramani Mahama was re-elected to represent the opposition National Democratic Congress in the 2024 presidential elections, the lobbying for his running mate was intensified with names of several distinguished persons being put forward.
However a close ally of the former president who is the Chairman of NDC Council of Elders in South Africa, Benjamin Kofi Quashie believes the choice of a vice presidential cannot be made out of the blue.
Mr. Mahama’s running mate in the 2020 general elections, Prof. Nana Jane Opoku Agyemang, former Chief of Staff Julius Debrah, former Chief Executive of Tema Oil Refinery Awuah Darko, and former MP and CEO of NHIA Sylvester Mensah are some of the names that have come up strongly for the number two position.
But Benjamin Quashie told ClassTV on Friday that he was confident whoever that would be presented would enjoy the support of the party.
“President John Mahama doesn’t do things to satisfy his parochial interest but the interest of the party,” he pointed out.
A lot of names would come out, he said, but was quick to add that the running mate would be selected mainly on what he termed “electoral victory considerations”.
Mr. Benjamin Kofi Quashie has therefore listed four considerations that should influence who is made to run with President Mahama.
- We must consider the appeal of the individual to the electorate, especially where he or she is coming from
- Look at the competence of the person as well
- They must look at the harmony that the person would have to work with President Mahama
- The fourth one, which is the most crucial one, is for us to realize and know is how the person intends to ensure that the manifesto of the party when it comes to power would be implemented, and ensure that it benefits the Ghanaian people
“What I can say is that President Mahama would give us the best running mate ever,” he assured Ghanaians.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of NDC Council of Elders in South Africa has discounted concerns by some that the running mate should be someone that the NDC can market as the next president to succeed John Mahama.
He therefore cautioned against the status quo where party in power thinks about the next election to the detriment of developing or governing the people well.
“What is important to the NDC is taking Ghanaians off the economic mess that the country is in,” Benjamin Quashie emphasized.