The Globe newspaper can authoritatively report that the 2012 Vice Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party is going to come from the north. This is in spite of well orchestrated moves to shift attention to the Brong Ahafo Region, in particular.
A senior party chief close to Nana Akufo-Addo has told the Globe that �the flagbearer does not intend to change the Northern running mate tradition of his party that has endured since 1992, with the exception of the Great Alliance in 1996.�
Our checks further indicate that it is almost a foregone conclusion that Nana Akufo-Addo will stick to his 2008 running mate, the banker, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.
Indeed, the decision by Nana Akufo-Addo to put off choosing his running mate until next year is suspected to have been taken to suit the former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Bawumia, who is currently serving in Zimbabwe as the Country Director for the African Development Bank.
The second favourite person for probably the most sought-after position left to be filled for the 2012 election is the Deputy Minority Leader, Ambrose Dery, whose candidacy is being pushed by the Minority Caucus in Parliament.
Dery, a lawyer, who joined the party in 2004 from the People�s National Convention, has had a meteoric rise in the NPP and has won a lot of admiration for what our source called �his exceptional service and loyalty to the party since then.�
Dark Horse Emerging
But, The Globe can exclusively reveal that there is a dark horse emerging. Some youth members of the NPP are pushing for one of their own, a lecturer at the Cape Coast University, who turned 40 this year. He is a former students� leader and has been a strong and vibrant youth activist of the party since 1992.
His name is Mustapha Hamid, a former National Youth Organiser of the NPP and the Spokesperson for Nana Akufo-Addo since 2007.
Hamid is seen by some people as offering a very exciting and winnable option for the NPP flagbearer.
�Hamid�s loyalty to Nana Akufo-Addo is not in doubt,� our source said, adding: �Loyalty is a key consideration to Nana Akufo-Addo.�
According to our source, Hamid, a former Editor of The Statesman, �is also an excellent communicator, who speaks about five languages.�
�He is a consummate politician, with the energy and dynamism to cover a lot of grass and campaign heavily in 2012,� said our source, adding �Hamid is also seen as the candidate who may be more than a political match for Vice President John Mahama.�
�Big Joke�
Hamid and Dr Bawumia are both Muslims and Mamprusis, brought up in Tamale and therefore eloquent in Dagbani. �Except, Hamid has more of a connection with the grassroots of the party,� said the source.
Dery is a Christian and a Dagarti from the Upper West Region.
�Ironically, Hamid is one of the major supporters of the campaign to retain the Nana-Bawumia ticket,� our source revealed.
He dismisses the idea of his name being even considered as a possible running mate as a �big joke� which should not be entertained. The source told The Globe on Sunday: �Indeed the mention of his name either provokes a big �no!� or a considered �why not!�
However, the movement to get him considered is attaining a life of its own, against what appears to be his personal wish.
Hamid, in the words or our source, �may not have much to worry about though because it is likely to take some extraordinary protest to stop Nana Akufo-Addo from repeating his 2008 ticket, which lost that election by a mere 0.46% of the popular vote in the run-off.�
Our checks revealed that Bawumia�s time abroad has rubbed certain party people the wrong way. But, according to another source close to the NPP flagbearer, �Nana Akufo-Addo was one of those who lobbied for him in 2009 for a position at the AfDB.�
Bawumia has used his time in opposition to write an authoritative book on the Ghanaian economy since 1957, while contributing immensely to the policy bank of the party.
In fact, until his Zimbabwean appointment, it was reported that he was head of the Policy Unit of the NPP, a position some believe he has not fully relinquished but cannot be seen to be holding because of his AfDB appointment.
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