With time running fast to the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections, conversations are rife about who becomes the running mate for the Presidential candidates of the two major political parties.
Both John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic Congress and Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia of the New Patriotic Party are yet to name their Vice Presidential candidates barely ten months to the 2024 polls.
Several names have popped up as possible running mates for both political parties but for the NDC, one name remains a shock -that is, the name of Togbe Afede XIV, the Agbogbomefia of the Asogli state.
The accomplished businessman and banker is being tipped to be considered as the NDC Flag-bearer’s running mate instead of Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang who was Mahama’s running mate for the 2020 presidential elections.
Change Makers Forum, a group of professionals aligned to the centre-left political orientation are advocating for the Asogli State’s Paramount Chief to be considered, a Daily Graphic publication revealed this week.
The group believes Togbe Afede is an ideal candidate for the NDC flag bearer who will bring his expertise in diverse fields including finance, economy, banking and entrepreneurship to bear as far as the country’s economic management is concerned.
But a press release issued by the Asogli State Council dated today, February 13, 2024 appears to confirm Togbe Afede’s willingness to accept the slot if considered.
The statement signed by Stephen Tetteh, Secretary to the Council while attempting to deny mandating any group to lobby for the position for Togbe, noted that, “Many people and groups have approached Togbe over the years to leave chieftaincy and get more actively involved in the political leadership of the country. Togbe’s response had always been that there are many avenues available to Chiefs and Queens in the country to legally contribute their quota to national development.”
The statement indicated further that ‘Change Makers Forum’ were the latest to approach Togbe to consider himself as the running mate for the NDC flag bearer for the 2024 Presidential election.
A request Togbe is reported to have responded to “that, as a patriotic citizen, he would not reject any opportunity to serve the country but the choice of a running mate is the prerogative of the flag bearer who already knows him very well.”
According to the Asogli State Council, Togbe Afede XIV considers it a “great honour that a group of well-intentioned professionals called on him to express their trust in him, and thus their desire for him to be the next Vice President of Ghana.”
This development opens the discussion further on who the NDC flag bearer would choose as his running mate but also as to whether the Agbogbomefia is ready to abdicate his position as a chief in fulfillment of this desire with Mr. Mahama expected to make an announcement latest early March.