The National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, who served as the general secretary of the party for over 17 years, has disclosed that he never had plans to go into party leadership.

According to Asiedu Nkekiah, after deciding to leave the Parliament of Ghana, having served as the representative of the Buem South Constituency for 12 years, he only wanted to go into academia.

However, he said, the late former Member of Parliament (MP) for Ningo-Prampram and ex-Minister for Sports, Enoch Teye Mensah (ET Mensah), managed to convince him to remain in politics.

The NDC national chairman said that ET Mensah was the one who advised him and supported him to become the general secretary of the party.

He added that ET Mensah and a handful of the then MPs from the party, including John Dramani Mahama and Edward Doe Adjaho, supported him to win the general secretary race against candidates sponsored by leading figures in the NDC like the late Jerry John Rawlings.

“Something he did, which I will never forget, is that he was part of the group of MPs who recommended me to become the NDC general secretary when I was leaving parliament after 12 years to pursue my PhD.

“ET Mensah, Doe Adjaho, Alban Bagbin, John Dramani Mahama, and a few others came together and suggested that the party needed a firebrand, and I did not have a pesewa at the time,” he said.

He added, “All the seniors in the party had their candidates, but with the backing of ET Mensah, Doe Adjaho, Collins Dauda, John Mahama, and others who pledged to work in their constituencies to ensure my election, I became the general secretary of the NDC”.

Johnson Asiedu Nketiah made these remarks at the State House during the state funeral held in honour of the late ET Mensah, on Friday, January 5, 2024.

On Thursday, January 4, 2024, his body was laid in state at his Prampram residence. He was buried on Friday after the state funeral.

A thanksgiving service will be held in his honour at the Methodist Church at Prampram on Sunday, January 7, 2024.

ET Mensah passed on in South Africa at age 77 in October 2023, after battling ill health for some time.

He served as a Minister for Youth and Sports and Education and was a Member of Parliament from January 1997 to January 2017.

He is survived by a wife and seven children.

BAI/AE

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