Mahama’s choice of running mate likely to increase his votes – Political scientist

A senior political science lecturer at the University Of Ghana, Dr. Seidu Alidu says the National Democratic Congress (NDC) stands a chance of garnering more votes based on the choice of their running mate.

Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang was officially announced yesterday, Monday, as the running mate of the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, for the 2020 elections.

Although Dr. Seidu believes the gender card will play a role during the elections, he says her competence as an academic and scandal-free administrator gave her an advantage over other candidates.

“This is the first time a major political party in Ghana has selected a woman, a woman with a lot of substance as an academic. Being in academia means you have a lot of professionalism, stagecraft, rigour and a lot of courage. And she was not only an academic but a leader, from the whole concept of being a Head of Department, to being a Dean, to being a Vice-Chancellor of a major public university in this country, so that is also an addition.”

“The last thing I want to look at is the fact that this is a woman who is not deeply rooted in the party and so because of that she has fewer scandals or is scandal-free as compared to all the other candidates that were competing for that position. There were a lot of scandals that could have been raised against them. I don’t know so much about her personal life, but if you look at her political career you will realise that she has a scandal-free record,” he added.

Meanwhile, a Senior Political Science Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Alexander Kaakyire Frimpong, says Prof. Opoku-Agyemang, can help John Mahama to win the 2020 elections.

Media reports say some leading members of the NDC were not in favour of Prof. Opoku-Agyemang and wanted her changed.

But Alexander Kaakyire Frimpong is of the opinion that a female candidate holds the magic wand to help the NDC flagbearer win the 2020 elections.

Speaking on Monday, July 6, 2020, the Senior Lecturer said he is convinced the former academic has what it takes to help Mahama win the 2020 polls.

“She can do the [magic] for Ghana… It’s only when one of the two biggest parties select a female running mate that there can be a female President in Ghana,” he opined.

Mr. Frimpong added that Prof. Opoku-Agyemang can match sitting Vice President, Dr Bawumia, in other areas aside economics.

“People consider geographical factors and the electability of the candidate and the ability of the person to help in governance…there are people who can be electable, but not good in governance and vice versa,” he said.

Mr. Frimpong continued that the Presidential candidates do not select their running mates from their strongholds because they do not just want regional balance, but also to win the hearts of other floating voters.

source: Citi Newsroom