Nii John Coleman, a businessman and tough-boned party apparatchik of the National Democratic Congress, has declaredthat he is poised to beat any contestant coming his way in the forthcoming NDC Korley Klottey constituency primaries and the 2016 parliamentary elections.
He would, however, hope that the party puts in place a level playing field in ensuring that the seat is safely won for the political benefit of the largely indigenous constituents.
He made the declaration over the weekend in an exclusive release to the New Crusading GUIDE in Accra.
In a confident tone, Nii Coleman trumpeted: “Am poised to beat any contestant, whether it is the NPP’s Philip Addison resurrected from the dead or any other candidate present now or in 2016.”
According to him, if that level playing field is put in place, he is sure to beat even Dr. Ezanetor Rawlings, daughter of former President JJ Rawlings, who is rumoured to be putting in a surprise bid.
A strongman on the ground in the constituency, Nii John Coleman indicated that, beyond his commitment to the ideals of the NDC as a social democratic party and loyalty to the leadership as well as his competence as a constituency party executive with parliamentary aspirations since 2000, he enjoys unalloyed support from the indigenous community as a politician of substance.
“For a party whose support base is in Zongos, fisher folk, indigenous communities and countryside folk, it is important that NDC political stakeholders put their bet on Nii John, in ensuring that the seat is safely won and the job of effectively representing the people secured, ahead of the 2016 Presidential and parliamentary elections,” he explained.
The atmosphere for the Korley Klottey constituency 2016 presidential an d parliamentary elections is gathering steam, with the two leading political parties, the opposition NPP and the ruling NDC, locked in political dog fight over turf as to which party represents the largely indigenous folk in a community largely composed of informal sector workers and fisher folk and families.
In recent times, the Korley Klottey constituency in the Greater Accra Region, which used to be “the seat of government,” has been one of the hottest spots in the country for political activities.
Not long ago, the NPP held its constituency primaries to elect parliamentary candidates in all the 270 constituencies in the ten regions of the country with the results of the Korley Klottey constituency still in limbo.
In a frantic bid to capture the seat, the NPP tactically attempted to push its lead counsel in the historic 2012 election petition, lawyer Philip Addison, onto the turf for optimum political gain. The strategy woefully failed to tick because of the indigenous colour of political activity on the turf since the days of good, old Harry Sawyer, now passed on.
Though the NDC has won the Korley Klottey seat twice on the trot, 2008 & 2012, there are indications that the incumbent Member of Parliament Hon. Nii Armah Ashitey, will have a very difficult task sweating it out with possible names like Mr. Frank Awuku of the Bank of Ghana, who lost to Nii Armah Ashitey in the last primaries and Mr. Leeford Quarshie, who stood as an independent candidate in the 2012 elections after he lost the primaries.
This is aside of the unconfirmed report about the entry of the daughter of the former President J.J. Rawlings, Dr. Ezanetor Rawlings into the fray to contest the primaries.
Regardless, “new kid on the block” Nii John believes he can ride the wave.
Coleman started his political career as a member of the Eagle Fan Club with the likes of the late CC Mabel, late Mr. Tei Okunnor, late Pastor Teiko Quarshie, Cpt. Rtd. Felix Nii Okai and former Minister of Interior, Nii Okaidja Adamafio. He later became an executive member of the National Democratic Congress as a Constituency Organizer.
In 2001, Coleman became the constituency Vice Chairman and in 2003 became the Greater Accra Regional Deputy Youth Organizer and later the substantive Regional Youth Organizer of the NDC. He joined Mr. Yao Obed Asamoah, Hon. Bede Ziedeng, Hon. Nii Okaidja Adamafio and others to form the Democratic Freedom Party.
In 2010, however, the late President J.E.A Mills, statesman extraordinaire, in a typical conciliatory gesture, invited the entire membership of the Democratic Freedom Party to join the NDC. The group wholeheartedly accepted the offer, and jumped back into the trenches to help give the NDC a hard-fought win in the 2012 presidential and parliamentary elections.
Nii John Coleman has indicated that he is on a redemption crusade for the Korley Klottey Constituency seat for the party he loves so much and for which he is ready to die, revealing that in 2004, he was prevailed on by the then-Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the NDC, now Professor Joshua Alabi, and Nii Okaidja Adamafio, who was then a National Vice Chairman of the party, to withdraw for Hon. Nii Armah Ashitey to contest on the ticket of the NDC.
He is convinced that though that the NDC has won the seat more that the NPP since 1992, it is crucial to redeem the sinking morale of the electorates and give constituents a hope for the future, by allowing them to choose an indigene. This, he insists, calls for a tactical picking of an affable, respectful, caring, dedicated indigenous candidate to lead the National Democratic Congress to win the Korley Klottey seat.
Cadres of the NDC have, meanwhile, expressed concerns about the party imposing candidates on the constituency, arguing that it takes away citizens right to elect candidates of their choice.
The group referred to the case of the late Tei Okunnor, former chairman, who was made to step down for Hon. E.W. Nortey, after Okunnor had won the primaries and that of late David Lamptey, who came from the NPP and skipped the processes to contest on the ticket of the NDC.
Party regulations and guide-lines, according to him, ought to be followed, adding “we are determined to resist any attempt to impose any candidate who is not qualified to contest the primaries of the party.”
<<Print>>