The head of the Political Communications Department of the University of Cape Coast, Dr Eric Opoku Mensah, has heaped praises on the wife of New Patriotic Party (NPP) vice-presidential candidate, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, for her role in the campaign of the party ahead of polls in December.

According to Dr Mensah, it would not be far-fetched to refer to Mrs Samira Bawumia as Ghana’s version of Michelle Obama, wife of the president of the United States of America.

Mrs Bawumia has been touring the country preaching the message of change to the electorate.

In his assessment of Mrs Bawumia’s role in the NPP campaign, Dr Mensah told Class News’ Naa Deedei Tettey on Thursday October 27 that she had developed into a great asset for the NPP and had the ability to make political gains for her party and its candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

“So far as the NPP’s campaign is concerned, I think that she’s been quite articulate, and if you want to say Ghana’s version of Michelle Obama, you might be right to some extent. She has grown over the period. Her husband, Dr Bawumia, has grown tremendously in terms of his stature and he’s come along with wife Samira. I think she brings a lot of credibility to Nana Akufo-Addo’s ticket, particularly being a Muslim woman. I think that she has a great potential of connecting with the teeming masses, especially in the Zongos,” he stated.

“She has the potential of easily connecting with the ordinary people because they look up to her as one of their own. She comes from the north and secondly she is a Muslim, and I think that if she continues this way, she brings a lot of political capital to the NPP and I think it will only be to the advantage of the NPP.”

He continued: “This is something I haven’t seen on the other side, particularly in the NDC, and it adds a lot to the ticket of Nana Akufo-Addo. …She has age on her side, she is young, she is energetic, and this is the time she can do a lot more and I’m not surprised at what she is doing. …This is not a competition between her and Nana Akufo-Addo’s wife, but she is young and she has all the zeal and energy. When you look at the other side, sometimes, you will find the First Lady going on her own trips, but most at times what is visible to me is not more of her oratory [skills] but sharing [of] gifts, but Samira has really shown the difference by her ability to articulate clearly her message.”