....Why It’s Got To Be Aliu
A Leading Attorney in the Eastern Region, Mr. Baron Amoafo, and some die-hard New Patriotic Party (NPP) members in the region have observed that Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama is the personality who must lead the field among the enlarging pack of NPP hopefuls straining to succeed President J.A. Kufuor.

He said the misconception of the party as ethnic-based, and for that matter Akan-dominated, poses a serious threat to the victory and stability of the party in the 2008 general election. He and his group of supporters made the observation during a traveling survey conducted by the paper in the region to collect party members’ views and comments about the aspiring flagbearers. Baron Amoafo said he was deeply worried about these threats, hence his declaration to draw the party executives’ attention to it to fathom how best they could resolve “this potential danger”, as he describes it.

According to him, so far the eleven names that had come out to vie for the flagbearership of the NPP for the next election included Nana Addo Danqua Akufo-Addo, Nana Yaw Osafo Maafo, Mr. Hackman Owusu Agyeman, Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku and Dr. Kwame Addo Kufuor.

Others who are seriously campaigning to win the votes of would-be-delegates include Prof. Frimpong Boateng, Mr. Boakye Agyarko, Mr. Arthur Kennedy, Vice President Alhaji Aliu, Prof. Mike Oquaye and Alan Kyeremanteng.

“Out of these eleven names that have come out, it is only the Vice President who is not Akan and also the only one whose position has him groomed to become the next flagbearer of the party,” he opined.

Citing an example, Lawyer Amoafo mentioned the American system, which had developed this convention that regardless of the party, it is the vice president who had always become the flagbearer for elections. He stated that by virtue of a number of people who have offered to contest the flagbearership of the NPP, it seems the American convention has not been extended to Ghana. Amoafo noted that notwithstanding all the experiences of Aliu, one big problem that poses a threat to the stability and victory of the NPP in the 2008 general election is the general perception that it is Akan-dominated.

Apparently armed with records to support this argument, he contended that since the days of Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia, who was a Prime Minister in 1969, to President John Agyekum Kufuor’s regime, evidence of this perception abounds. He observed that in order to ‘hide’ the trend and disproof the perception, the Danqua- Busia tradition had always chosen a Northerner for running mate. He said since this was the first time a Northerner had come out openly to contest the flagbearership, a big problem was staring the party in the face. “The question is: would an Akan-dominated party vote for Alhaji Aliu Mahama to become the next flagbearer in the 2008 elections or would they vote against him?” Lawyer Amoafo quizzed.

According to him even if the electorate in the party use merit as a yardstick and reject Aliu Mahama, the perception would be drummed home to the effect that the Akans had consciously voted against a non-Akan. “If he does not win, it will reinforce this perception in the non-Akans in the country, especially among Northerners, and the consequences of this perception would be highly unpredictable,” he cautioned. Lawyer Baron Amoafo suggested to the leadership of the NPP to consider this problem posed and find practical means of avoiding such potential danger, adding, “They should not overlook it and pretend the problem does not exist.”