For many who wondered what drove the energy behind the multiple Mahama! Mahama! Signature chants of Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, the former director of elections for the National Democratic Congress reduce it to science and spirit.
Disclosing the secret behind the high morale he exuded to usher in the flagbearer of the NDC John Dramani Mahama on campaign platforms, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah pointed out that he was on a deliberate mission to generate a top-of-mind recognition of the name Mahama in the mind of electorates.
He disclosed that scientific research organized in 2012 after the passing of former President John Evans Atta Mills suggested that though the newly sworn-in President John Dramani Mahama was popular, the leader of the opposition New Patriotic Party Nana Akufo Addo had a stronger name recognition among the citizenry.
“People don’t know that there was a method behind the madness. We decided that one of the ways was to make sure that the Mahama name sticks in people’s minds. When on the ground, I chant the Mahama name sometimes for 40 to 70 times and by the time we leave even children are doing Mahama, Mahama, Mahama,” he pointed out.
He told host Julius Caesar Anadem on the Ultimate Breakfast Show in Kumasi that he approached every campaign the same way he tackled his work as a lay preacher.
“I pray, study, read, meditate, fast when it’s necessary, and you leave the rest to the Holy Ghost,” he stated.
He however indicated he had left the space for the youth to lead on the grounds but was yet to find any young person who could do it better than him.