<<Print>>

Reports reaching Daily Guide suggest that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the affable and soft-spoken banker who partnered New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer Nana Akufo-Addo in the 2008 elections, has quit his job with the African Development bank (ADB) as its country manager for Zimbabwe. Dr Bawumia is said to have submitted his resignation letter to his bosses at the ADB headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, last week, to tackle his bid for the NPP flagbearer�s running mate head-on. Sources said a send-off party was held for him in Harare Saturday after he returned from Tunisia, and he is expected in Ghana this week to join his lobby team. NPP flagbearer Nana Akufo-Addo is said to have a soft spot for Dr Bawumia. However, he needs to contend with strong forces in the party who are against his retention as running mate for 2012. Lobbying for the NPP running mate slot has gathered an unusual momentum with new names appearing on the radar. Observers of the trend are posing questions as to why the abrupt proclivity for the running mate position by so many personalities. With each passing week, the list grows taller, with the pages of newspapers becoming the most preferred arena for slugging it out by interest groups. In the past few weeks, the Bawumia camp has been firing on all cylinders, engaging known media names and so-called connoisseurs of local politics to endorse the man who partnered Nana Akufo Addo in the last polls. Alhaji Nurudeen Jawula�s camp has been active too, adopting a less noisy personal contact template to counter what someone described as the cacophonous endorsement spree by local media moguls. Alhaji Jawula, with a Gonja/Guan connection, coupled with Zongo roots, is also a hot favourite. A household name in sports and civil service- two places where he has left his footprints- Alhaji Jawula commands a large constituency. However, age is not on his side, as those who are against his selection claim he might not appeal to young voters. The emergence of Alhaji Haruna Alhassan, the Deputy Managing Director of Metro TV, is causing a stir, adding a fresh excitement to the prevailing political suspense. Last week, a Zongo grouping in the Garden City of Kumasi threw its weight behind the gentleman, as others, DAILY GUIDE has learnt, are about to follow suit. He was born and bred in Kumasi, the city with the largest Zongo settlement in the country, but his parents hail from Bawku. The Metro man, as some now fondly call him, said he is longing for the days when the forebear of the NPP used to be the party of choice in Kumasi�s Zongos. He is a chartered accountant, a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana. He is also a member of the National Media Commission. Alhaji Alhassan Haruna is an old boy of TI Ahmadiya Secondary School and had his tertiary education at South Bank University, UK, and Heriott Watt University, Edinburgh, where he had his MBA. The names of Boniface Saddique and Rashid Bawa, both former ministers in the Kufuor regime, have also been touted in the upcoming fixture. For those who back Dr. Bawumia, their point is that he has already been marketed as opposed to the others. Elders of the party are opposed to the intense lobbying and undue pressure on the flag bearer to name his running mate. In spite of the Northern/Muslim kite that is being flown, some names outside this bracket have also been making the rounds. Hon. Ambrose Dery, a fine gentleman, is on the cards, as the choice of the NPP Minority in Parliament. The choice of a running mate is a nightmarish assignment for the flagbearer, given the pressure that is being brought to bear upon him by lobbyists. In the last elections, Hajia Alima Mahama, a Mamprugu, the same ethnic grouping Dr. Bawumia belongs to, was one of the contenders for the NPP ticket. She is hardly mentioned in the ongoing hassle to catch the attention of the flagbearer. Venerable J.H. Mensah, the septuagenarian politician, a one-time Senior Minister, has counseled the flagbearer to be mindful of who he chooses as his partner by avoiding the mistake of the last polls. It is a counsel that is a bit ambiguous, because it does not bring out clearly his position on the choice of Dr. Bawumia as running mate in the last elections, which is aggravated by his call on the flagbearer to choose someone who is good regardless of ethnic or religious considerations. In a political grouping which has canonized the balancing act in the choice of a running, it is unlikely that the status quo is going to be altered this time around. In the days of the struggle for independence, the UP, forebear of the NPP, was the favourite of the Islamic communities, a return to which status is very much on the agenda of the party today. Former President Kufuor�s admonition last week that the flagbearer be left alone to make his choice could not have come at a better time as Nana Akufo Addo weathers the storm of intense lobbying.