Julius Debrah Now Pushing For Veep Slot
…Constituency Chairmen, Regional Youth, Others Walk To Canvass For His Selection
While many political party leaders and representatives are on the ground to ensure the Electoral Commission (EC’s) ongoing limited registration exercise is largely successful, a former Chief of Staff in the erstwhile Mahama administration is covertly on the ground, busily working to be selected as running mate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama.
In what looks like a carefully crafted strategy to get him picked as the vice-presidential candidate for the 2024 election, assigns and supporters of Mr. Julius Debrah were seen, over the weekend, in an organized massive walk in his honour to push for his selection.
Aside from the Eastern regional and constituency executives, there were others from the Ashanti and Bono regional youth organizers, among other grassroots, who travelled all the way to Accra to take part in the walk.
Convener of Friends of Julius Debrah, who organized the solidarity walk, Richard Nyarko Etornam, said Julius Debrah has the full support of the NDC youth to become running mate because he represents the aspirations of the youth.
He stressed the youth of the party will be very energized if Julius Debrah is considered and given the opportunity to become the running mate.
The latest strategy comes in the wake of sustained media campaigns in the form of articles and features being published in various media outlets to project himas the best choice, ahead of the 2020 candidate, Professor Naana Jane Opoku Agyemang.
This is not the first time Mr. Debrah and his assigns are embarking on this agenda.
In August, this year, when calls to have the former chief of staff under former President Mahama selected were rife in the media space, he came out with a statement to distance himself from the lobbyists, even though many of the faces behind the campaign are known agents of his.
His actions and the subsequent statement, The Anchor gathered, got the former President unenthused, especially knowing the fact that he is very close to him.
Excerpts of Mr. Debrah’s statement at the time read, “My attention has been drawn to numerous interest groups and individuals mentioning my name as a possible running mate to President Mahama for the 2024 presidential elections. In as much as it is the desire of everyone to advance in whatever career they find themselves, I wish to dissociate myself from the sentiments expressed in the media by these groups and individuals. Although such groups and persons might be motivated by a genuine trust and belief in my personal capacities, I wish to emphasize that I have expressed no such intention anywhere.”
Solidarity walk
However, thesolidarity walk over the weekend by some constituency chairmen, regional youth organizers and parliamentary candidates of the NDC, in the name of Mr. Debrah,to get him selected for the running mate position ahead of other names, has left many in shock.
According to reports, the solidarity walk on Saturday, September 26, started from the Ayi Mensah toll booth, all the way to the Peduase Lodge. The walk was reportedly patronized by a number of the party’s grassroots.
Interestingly, many of the party executives who participated in the walk were mostly from the Eastern Region, where Mr. Debrah hails from.
Best Choice
Meanwhile, addressing the media to climax the walk, the New Juaben South constituency chairman of the NDC, Selassie Amuzu, who spoke on behalf of the constituency chairmen, argued that, Mr. Debrah is the best bet to partner John Mahama going into the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections.
He claimed Mr. Debrah is a successful businessman and politician, who has risen through the ranks in his political career and became a minister and chief of staff, thus making him the one with enough experience, coupled with his relative youthfulness and competence.
Despite their unflinching support for their former chairman, Mr.Amuzu said, the constituency chairmen are prepared to work with anyone selected as running mate to ensure the party is successful in next year’s general elections.
On his part, the Ashanti regional youth organizer of the party, Osman Abdullah Nabali, flanked by the Bono regional youth organizer, observed that, the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) may likely elect Vice President Dr. MahamuduBawumia as its flagbearer.
He said this may affect the NDC votes in the five regions in the north, and it will serve the NDC better if it selects a running mate from the south who can maximize votes, particularly among the youth.
“The reason some of us came all the way from Bono and Ashanti regions to come and support and show solidarity is that we are here to plead with our president, John Dramani Mahama, when choosing the running mate consider our father, our boss Julius Debrah, as running mate.
“He has served even John Dramani Mahama beyond reasonable doubt and we know choosing him as running mate will help canvass more votes, especially from the youth. Currently, if we want to win an election, you need the youth to support you and that man is somebody who can work with the youth, come down, work with the grassroots and canvass for the party,” he contended.
He continued that “now that it is obvious that NPP will be choosing Bawumia as their Presidential candidate, it is obvious that they will be two from the north and they will be campaigning at the north. So, it will be something that John Dramani Mahama focus will be at the North. If that will be the case then it means we need somebody who can also work in Southern sector and the middle belt to make sure he canvasses more votes for the party in coming 2024 elections.”
The debate on who becomes the running to the NDC flagbearer continues to rage on.
Several names, including former Education Minister, Prof. Naana Jane Opoku Agyemang; former Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) chief executive, Alex Mould andthe former Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) boss, Kingsley Awuah-Darko, have all come up. Mr. Mahama, however, has remained quiet.
Source:Ancorghana.com
