<<Print>>About eight potential candidates are said to be lobbying the presidency intensively for the Ashanti Regional Deputy Ministerial position, a week after the official swearing in of the substantive minister, Mr. Peter Anarfi Mensah.
The Chronicle has gathered from an impeccable source that the competition for the position, which became vacant following the sacking of Joseph Yammin, has become very intense with potential candidates employing various tactics to catch the attention of the President.
The paper is reliably informed about how some party leaders in the region have been lobbying through some prominent traditional rulers in the Ashanti Region to facilitate their chances of securing the slot.
Names that have so far come up, per the investigation by The Chronicle, are David Agbee, Governance and Security Expert and a Communicator for the party, the Ashanti Regional Secretary for NDC, Raymond Tandoh, Deputy Secretary Kwame Zu, Edith Armamoh, a co-opted staff at the regional office of the party, and Mr. George Amofah, Director in charge of Elections.
Other potential names include Madam Grace Yeboah Agyei, a one-time Regional President of the 31st December Women’s Movement, the Regional NADMO Coordinator, one Mr. Piesie, and Alhaji Nuhu, also at the regional office.
Madam Grace Yeboah is the mother of the Obuasi Municipal Chief Executive, Kwasi Ofori Agyemang Boadi, and was also said to have been an integral member of the then powerful 31st December Women’s Movement founded by former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings.
However, checks indicate that amongst the eight potential candidates, only three stand out as most likely to land the post. These include David Agbee, known in Kumasi as “King David” Raymond Tandoh and Edith Amarmoh.
Information gleaned from some party faithful, as well as checks on social media, indicate that David Agbee is in pole position to secure the slot as a result of the party’s strategic approach to the upcoming elections.
According to some party leaders, who spoke to the paper under condition of anonymity, the selection of Agbee, who has background in Governance and Communication, will situate well with the party, since he would assist the newly-appointed minister, who is an academician, to steer affairs of the party in the region.
David Agbee, as a friend of the media and has been with the media fraternity for almost ten years, makes him a good candidate who can coordinate and promote activities of the party through the media.
Though Raymond Tandoh, the regional scribe, comes close, as the party is very wary of repeating the Yammin experience, a situation where Mr. Yammin, who was then the regional secretary and got appointed as the Deputy Regional Minister and almost tore the party apart as a result of power play between him and his boss, Samuel Sarpong.
However, the paper can report authoritatively that the battle will go down to the wire, as all the potential candidates appear to fancy their chances of securing the slot.