In Ghanaian politics, the myths of having a Northern and Southern presidential joint ticket remain as deeply entrenched and blindly accepted by the electorate just as the power of the vice-presidential candidate.
This notion was purported to have been started in 1979 general elections when the then two major parties both fielded a candidate from the north and the south.
The Popular Front Party was led by late Victor Owusu, a southerner, and Peoples National Party-led then by candidate late Dr Hilla Limann, a career diplomat, from the north. This north and south pairing did not come into play again from 1981, when Flt Lt Rawlings overthrew the PNP government under ex-President Dr. Hilla Limann, until 2000 when he finished his term as the president of the fourth republic.
Since 2000 the duopoly of north and south joint ticket has been the norm. However, what has also emerged is the dynamics of who leads the ticket in both parties and their vice-presidential pick.
In the 2000 elections, both the NDC and NPP had Northerners on the ticket as a vice-presidential pick. That election was unique because as many have argued the country was clamouring for change after two terms of NDC administration in government. The same can be argued for the 2008 elections when Mills won after the second round of runoff against the ruling NPP candidate. In both elections, the vice-presidential pick did not make much impact in terms of votes won in their home regions due to the euphoria for change by the major party that was then in opposition.
Ghana, from 1992, when the fourth republic constitution was adopted, and Flt Lt Rawlings won the first elections, the country has had a very vibrant democracy where elections are fiercely contested and are seen to be free and fair with participation being extremely high, especially in two regions of the country, Volta and Ashanti Regions, where both the National Democratic Congress and New Patriotic Parties have their strongholds, respectively.
In his analysis, “The Ghanaian Paradox”, Cadman Atta Mills (the younger brother of the late 5th President of the Republic, Professor John Kofi Atta Mills), argues that unlike many countries across the continent, the Ghanaian elections are inherently not based on ethnic affiliations, but rather, on the personality and quality of leadership where “party supporters appear to no more than associations of prominent individuals and their followers or fan clubs” and further argue that “for the most part elections are contested on the basis of promised infrastructure projects, utility price reductions, the restoration of allowances, payment of arrears, and elimination of school fees (free SHS), Mills, 2018, Africa In Focus.
Thus in 2012 elections, John Mahama, who was sworn in as President of the Republic of Ghana earlier after the demise of President Mills, campaigned not on his record but his youthfulness and on the record of late President Mills anti-corruption crusade. Mahama surrounded himself with former student leaders who had propelled late President Mills to power 4 years earlier, such as Fiifi Kwetey, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa and Victoria Hammer, among others.
And 4 years later in 2016 elections, then candidate and now President Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo, mainly campaigned on his record as a Human Rights Defender and on Dr Muhammadu Bawumia’s (his vice-presidential pick) record as a brilliant economist and the one who would save the country from the rout of the NDC. In fact, many in the New Patriot Party often compare Dr. Bawumia to late Milton Friedman, an avid supporter and proponent of free markets, while others say his role in stabilising the Ghanaian economy while pursuing anti-aid and pro-growth policies, mirrors Zambia-born Economist Dambisa Moyo’s work. Moyo’s book, “Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and How There is a Better Way for Africa, some argue, greatly influence Dr Bawumia and Nana Akuffo Addo’s “Ghana Beyond Aid” agenda.
In Ghana, there has been an assumption that any party that wants to win elections must have the north and south ticket. As Mills, 2018, argue Ghana’s elections are based on issues that are primarily dominated by powerful socio-economic groups who are very vocal and quite often drive the agenda of the two major parties. Individuals who are perceived to be sympathetic to the political party that wins the elections are rewarded with contracts that do not go through competitive bidding (cronyism and/or in the local dialect, “kokofo ball” or “gutter to gutter”), while party affiliations are strong among the 80% poor which are not are seldom based on the ethnicity of the presidential candidates and their vice-presidential pick.
This brings us to the role and impact of the candidates and their vice-presidential pick in the 2020 elections. According to socio-economic and political commentators and analysts including this writer, the right VP pick can help carry not only his or her region, but his or her socio-economic group’s’, or put an uncompetitive subgroup into play.
Hence the selection of Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyeman is timely for the National Democratic Congress ahead of such greats as Nii Moi Thompson, (a member of the CPP Patriots), Dr. Kwesi Botchwey, Dr. Kwabena Duffuor, Alex Mould and others. This shows Aunty Naana’s immense stature, her rich experience and her non-corruptible stand in the country is greatly admired.
Aunty Naana’s selection as the vice-presidential pick on the ticket of NDC has suddenly changed the dynamics of this coming December 2020 elections.
So, who is Naana Jane, many may ask? Aunty Naana is a mother and grandmother, first and foremost, and an educationalist. Born and raised in Cape Coast, the Central Region of Ghana, Aunty Naana Jane served in the NDC government under John Mahama as an Education Minister, before then she served as the first female vice-chancellor of a major University in the country, University of Cape Coast, the Capital of Central Region.
Pundits across the country strongly believe that Aunty Naana’s pick as the vice-presidential candidate of the NDC would bring a huge electoral advantage to the party.
Already the various students’ unions, the University Lecturers union and women across the country have hailed Aunty Naana as someone who can help the NDC to transform the country. The National Union of Ghana Students, NUGS, the foremost student leadership in Ghana have pledge their total support to Aunty Naana’s candidacy and have called on the youth of the country to support and vote for her.
Aunty Naana’s gender would play a very crucial role in the December 2020 elections. Women groups across the country are very excited of Aunty Naana’s pick as the number 2 on the NDC ticket. Many women are now certain that Aunty Naana would help cement the gains already made when Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, often referred to as “Our Mother of Ghana”, was the first lady of Ghana from 1981 to 2000. Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings gave voice to women in Ghana and across the African continent. Many hope Aunty Naana Jane would use her role as Vice President of Ghana to do more for women, irrespective of ethnic group across the country.
In an interview that this writer had with a section of the youth in Accra, often seen hawking at intersections of Ghana’s roads and have been left behind, with many do not have any home to go to, lack skills to find meaningful work, said, they believe Aunty Naana Jane would help President Mahama to implement policies that would benefit them. The majority says Aunty Naana’s pick as the vice-presidential candidate of NDC is God sent and pledge to vote for the NDC because of Aunty Naana Jane.
When NDC’s National Communication Director, the young and dynamic Lawyer Sammy Gyamfi, announced to the world of the selection of Naana Jane Opoku-Agyeman as the vice-presidential candidate, there was wild jubilation among the Fantes of Central, Western and North Western Regions of Ghana. In Volta, Oti, Savannah, Upper East, Upper West, North West and Northern, Eastern, Bono, Ahafo and Ashanti Regions of Ghana women were ecstatic and happy to at last seen a woman, who is a mother and grandmother rand incorruptible, been selected as the vice-presidential candidate of the main opposition party, the NDC.
Many WOMEN were of the opinion that at last Aunty Nana Jane would help bring urgently needed advancement to women who have been neglected by previous governments as results of none women-friendly policies. According to one market woman at Takoradi Market Square who burst into tears of jubilation when Aunty Naana’s name was called out as the vice-presidential pick for NDC, said at last “Aunty Naana Jane will bring the vice-president home to womenfolk”. In Tamale, the Capital city of Northern Ghana (often referred to Ghana’s 3rd Capital City) there were jubilations at the markets because of Aunty Naana Jane’s pick as the vice-presidential candidate of NDC.
According to Lawyer Sammy Gyamfi, the dynamic young lawyer National Communications Director of NDC, Naana Jane’s pick as the vice-presidential candidate of NDC was not based on her huge advantage of Fante ethnic group votes, the most swing voters in Ghana’s electoral process, which many believe Aunty Naana would easily carry (Western, Western North, and Central Regions) but on her sole ability of someone who can get things done.
Aunty Naana, who was born in Cape Coast, is a God-fearing woman, a mother and grandmother, loved across the country, especially among her Fante ethnic group.
In a linear regression analysis plotted by this writer, in elections from 1992 to 2016, starting from late Kow Nkensen Arkaah’s pick as the vice-presidential candidate, help President Rawlings to carry all the 2 Fante Regions at the time, Central and Western, and this same feat was repeated in 1996 when another notable Fante, late President John Kofi Atta Mills was put on the ticket as the vice-presidential candidate of NDC. In 2012, when the elections were hotly contested between NPP and NDC, Paa Kwesi Amissah Arthur, another great son of the Fantes on the ticket as a vice-presidential candidate, the graph showed statistically significant voting trends of his Fante ethnic group, relative to national voting trends. Second, the analysis shows that NDC candidates won a higher percentage of the votes from the Central and Western Regions that is the core ethnic group, the Fante group (Nzema, Ahanta, Wassa, Awutu and Fantes) because of Paa Kwesi Amissah Arthur.
This analysis helped informed the selection of the NDC vice-presidential pick and what a good pick that is. My graph clearly shows that the Fante group responds differently to elections that feature a candidate from their group. The analysis also shows that those who normally vote for a different party with none indigene on the ballot or are not likely to vote at all suddenly become engaged in the campaign as is being seen across this writer’s ethnic group, the Fantes. From Kasoa through to Axim along the coast and from Tarkwa, Swedru, Ayledu, Fante Nyankumasi to Anomabo, Komenda, Abora, Elmina (Edna) Ekumfi, Enyan, Ajumako, Gomoa to Mankessim (The Ancestral Homeland of the Fantes) to Sekondi-Takoradi, the enthusiasm and joy of Aunty Naana being on the ticket of NDC is awesome.
In the 5 Northern Regions, Oti and Volta Regions, many womenfolk across the country are associating themselves with the support for our Aunty Naana to become the first female Vice President of the Republic of Ghana. Aunty Naana Jane will not only bring the Vice President Home to Mankessim and Cape Coast, but to all women of Ghana.
In an interview with Aunty Naana Jane in Accra last week with this writer, Aunty Naana said the plight of the large unemployed youth across the country is one of her most pressing issues that would be dealt in the very first month of the incoming administration.
As Aunty Naana embarks on this very important journey to help redeemed the women of Ghana from extreme poverty, hardships and to once again give voice to womenfolk, not only among the Fantes but the entire women of Ghana, the spirits of the Fantes’ ancestors in our Homeland of Mankessim would guide her, give her wisdom and strength to withstand any evil threats against her.
Aunty Naana would bring the Vice President Home to MANKESSIM, to Cape Coast, to Sekondi-Takoradi, to Tarkwa and to Axim and to every village and hamlet across our homeland Ghana. Yes, Aunty Naana Jane can. Aunty Naana Jane is our ONLY HOPE. The Spirits of OBRUMANKOMA, ODAPAGYA, AND OSON are firmly behind OUR MOTHER AND GRANDMOTHER AUNTY NAANA JANE.
