I deserve running mate position – Asiedu Nketia
General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia has said he deserves the running mate position of the umbrella party ahead of next year’s polls.
He told The Ghana Report Tuesday afternoon he has served the party in various capacities and will accept the position of running mate if the party’s flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama and the Council of Elders settle on him.
“Who doesn’t want this position? I have served in various capacities within the NDC and so if it is offered me, I’ll gladly accept it…I don’t think I will object to it,” Asiedu Nketia stated emphatically.
The NDC Chief Scribe, also known as ‘General Mosquito’ however indicated the decision to select a running mate cannot be campaigned for as that lies in the hands of the presidential candidate and the party’s Council of Elders.
He said, “But let me say that the position is not one that you can campaign and get it. It is the Elders of our party who will decide with the Flagbearer and if it is offered me, I’ll accept it.”
The Ghana Report last week carried an article based on insider information that former President and NDC Flagbearer, John Mahama, was considering Johnson Asiedu Nketia as a probable option for the running mate position ahead of the 2020 general elections.
Some bigwigs within the largest opposition party in the country believe, their General Secretary has a very rich experience in politics, is affable, and can easily identify with ordinary Ghanaians hence could leverage on those qualities to improve the fortunes of the party in the next general elections, especially as they seek to re-capture political power from the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).
The publication by The Ghana Report has dominated headlines and has gotten many expressing their views on whether or not Asiedu Nketia may be the best person to partner the former president in his bid to return to power.
The governing NPP, as things stand now, look set to repeat the pair for the 2012 and 2016 general elections as Flagbearer and running mate for the 2020 polls.
Same however cannot be said of the National Democratic Congress.
John Mahama, according to a source within the party will announce his running mate for the 2020 polls soon after hid party’s primaries.
The public declaration by Mr. Nketia expressing his desire to accept the position of a running mate if offered adds an interesting perspective to politics within the opposition party and the country as a whole.
Political watchers are therefore sitting on tenterhooks to see who the former president and NDC Council of Elders will eventually decide on particularly since “General Mosquito” himself appears ready and willing to bite when the time is right.