An aspirant for the prized Korley Klottey constituency seat, Nii John Coleman, has declared that the next generation of leaders required to take the National Democratic Congress and Ghana forward in its electoral and developmental campaign must not necessarily be Philistines and Goliaths, but Davids “on the ground,” who are capable of identifying grassroots issues, analyzing them and articulating them on the appropriate platforms for redress.
He made the declaration when he cruised in the convoy of a massive indigenous party crowd to the NDC Regional office adjacent Paloma Hotel in Accra for his filing ceremony Friday noon.
“I respect and regard the persona and memory of former President Rawlings and his contribution to national development and the fortunes of the party, even now, but I must add that, at this stage in the history of the nation and the NDC, we need Davids and not Goliaths and an army of Philistines to move the NDC or, for that matter, Ghana forward,” he told the press, after he had picked his forms and paid the appropriate fees.
Coleman, a 48 year old businessman, made the statement in obvious reference to the intriguing presence on the turf of Dr. Ezanetor Rawlings, daughter of former President Jerry John Rawlings, who has descended into the MP aspirant political fray in the neighbourhood where Papa J, still a strong personality in Ghana and the world today, spent 20 years spearheading a revolution that quite a chunk of Ghanaians still remember with nostalgia.
According to Coleman, however, the circumstances that warranted the presence of Goliaths on the political stage of Ghana have shifted, in which case the Philistine political spirit must also be made to hibernate. Additionally, he maintained, the electoral grounds in the constituency has become so slippery as a result of neglect on the part of the current Member of Parliament that it would take only a thoroughbred, resolute and hard-nosed indigene like him to restore the waning fortunes of the ruling National Democratic Congress in the constituency.
Coleman, however, admitted the “huge stature of ex-President Jerry John Rawlings in the NDC and Ghana,” saying it is the reason why he Coleman had consistently, as founding member of the NDC, nominated Mr. Rawlings for the party’s Presidential ticket in the 90s. That was also the reason why he also went into the trenches with other party cadres in the NDC in helping create and found the EGLE Party, which was to recce the grounds and lay structures for the effective mobilization of membership across the country to make the NDC a credible and strong political force in Ghana.
At the level of constituency and region, he also maintained that he has faithfully served the party and gained wide experience needed to put back together the party, which he believes is going to pieces in the constituency.
Korley Klottey (Osu, Tudu, Adabraka), like Dadekotopon (La), Ledzokuku (Teshie), Krowor (Nungua) and Odododiodioo (Accra Central) are seats that, he argued, are won by accomplished indigenous party apparatchiks and he, therefore, called on the party in the constituency, region and nation to support his bid in representing the NDC and returning President John Mahama to power in 2016.
Dr. Ezanetor Rawlings, who has been reported as interested in the seat, is tactically coming in from the cold on the wings of gender, and is expected to reflect the charisma and force of a new breed of genteel, forward-looking Amazons poised to give the party an enhanced image in the effort to help take the party and nation to the next level. “I welcome Dr. Ezanetor Rawlings to the fray, but would warn her that it is slippery grounds out there in Korley Klottey,” Coleman intimated.
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