Nana Ohene Ntow, Senior Campaign Advisor to Alan Kyerematen, revealed that NPP members initially opposed Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as Akufo-Addo’s running mate.
In an interview on Channel One TV, Mr. Ohene Ntow, a former NPP General Secretary, said the party leadership, including himself, strongly objected to Bawumia’s nomination, questioning why an outsider was chosen.
However, President Akufo-Addo persuaded the party by highlighting Bawumia’s economic expertise and promising to put him in charge of the economy if elected.
He narrated:
“The interesting thing about Bawumia’s eight years as Vice President is that, when I was the General Secretary and Akufo-Addo came as a candidate to propose Bawumia as running mate, we said ‘what are you talking about?’, the man is [not] a member of the party. And you are telling us that this whole big party, you can’t find a running mate? There was a fight at the Alisa Hotel.”
“We fought and fought, Akufo-Addo said, ‘This gentleman, he so well versed in the economy, if you people allow me to bring him in and I’m the president, I’ll hand over the economy to him and you people will see the kind of work he’ll do for the economy of Ghana.’ President Kufour said, let’s listen to the man before we regret one day”
Before the 2016 elections, many saw Dr. Bawumia as the “Economic Messiah” who would rescue Ghana’s economy. He gave several public lectures criticizing the Mahama administration’s economic policies.
Now, some people are disappointed, feeling he hasn’t met expectations as head of the Economic Management Team for nearly eight years.
Dr. Bawumia is running for president, promising to prevent Ghana’s economic collapse.
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