By: Winson V.A. Addotey

Several delegates and foot soldiers of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) have preferred the Vice President, Dr Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, to other personalities to partner President John Dramani Mahama as the running mate for the December polls.

According to them, Dr. Amissah-Arthur has acquired a wide range of experiences economically and politically, which would assist the President to form another formidable team that would attract the Ghanaian electorate to maintain their confidence in the party in the upcoming elections, therefore President Mahama should not hesitate to pick him.

The Crystal Clear Lens has been monitoring political discussions and comments of the delegates and foot soldiers at their constituencies and regional meetings, radio and television interviews across the country.

Overwhelmingly, these delegates and footsoldiers hold the strongest view that Dr Amissah-Arthur is the best man to partner President Mahama to form another winning team for the interest of the NDC and the country as whole.

Other voices which were heard eagerly gunning supports for Dr. Amissah-Arthur were the Research and Advocacy Platform led by Felix Ofosu Kwakye and Peter Otorkunor; Media Analysts Group led by Albert Kojo Yeboah popularly called Carlos and Alfred Kojo Triddles.

Some signals from the head office of the NDC explicitly indicated that the Regional and National Executives of the party would be comfortable with the choice of Dr. Amissah-Arthur as the running mate.

Some national officers of the party who spoke to this paper expressed confidence in the ability and capability of Dr Amissah-Arthur, who was the Governor of the Bank of Ghana before his nomination by the President and subsequent approval by Parliament as the Vice President.

The governing party is almost set to hold an Extra Ordinary National Delegate Congress in the Garden City, Kumasi, the Regional Capital of the Ashanti, on Thursday, where the delegates would assemble to endorse President John Mahama as the party’s Presidential Candidate for the December polls.

In a Radio Gold interview yesterday, Mr. Ade Coker, the Accra Regional Chairman of the NDC said the delegates would approve the candidature of Mr. Mahama by voting instead of popular acclamation.

Already, the Greater Accra Region of the NDC was the first to declare support for the candidature of President John Mahama to lead the party in the December elections soon after he was sworn-in as the President of the Ghana few hours after the demise of President Mills, whose sudden death on July 24, 2012, at 2:15pm brought the whole country to stand still.

Adding their voices to the supports of the John Mahama, the Regional Chairman of the NDC met in Accra to declare support for the presidential candidature of the Mahama.

The last special national delegate congress was held in Sunyani, the Regional Capital of Brong-Ahafo in 2011, which saw the late President, John Evans Atta Mills, emerged as the victor after defeating his only contender in the elections, former first lady and wife of the Founder the NDC, Nana Konadu Agyemang-Rawlings.

Soon after the Electoral Commission had declared Candidate Atta Mills as the winner of the contest, the former President, Jerry John Rawlings, walked forward to raise Mills’ hand up and congratulated him to the admiration of the enthusiastic crowd.

Subsequently, the International Community held high the flag of Ghana and praised the NDC for organizing another peaceful, free and fair elections, particularly when it was the first time in the history of the country a sitting president provided rooms for interested groups to contest him.

The late President, afterwards, reposed confidence in his vice President, John Mahama, by picking him as his running mate for the general elections.

But, unfortunately, as fate would have it, the President Mills did not leave long enough to contest the crucial race and lead Ghana to the promised land he so desired.

However, President Mahama, after his swearing-in, assured Ghanaians and the International Community that he would continue to pursue the vision of his former boss to fulfill the better Ghana Agenda he promised Ghanaians.