What does the aspiring ‘trotro driver’ Bawumia want in a ‘trotro mate’?

Ghana’s political sphere in recent times has witnessed heated public discourse concerning the impact of Vice Presidents in supporting their Presidents to manage the affairs of the country and the strategic impact of running mates on the Presidential tickets to win elections.

Over the years, these debates in the media have seen many assertions being made especially in regards to who the best Vice President has been in our fourth republic as a nation by political actors from the two main political parties, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

The NPP has argued that “Dr Bawumia is the best Vice President in the history of our fourth republic” while the NDC thinks otherwise. There have been particularly several comparisons between HE Former President, John Mahama’s tenure as Vice President and Dr Bawumia’s tenure as Vice President.

These comparisons have been done and are still being argued to somewhat establish who is more competent and deserves the Presidency as these two candidates are going into Ghana’s general election this December as main contenders representing the NDC and NPP respectively.

Also, the conversation about the strategic impact of running mates on the Presidential tickets to win elections has been a never-ending one especially when it is that time for political parties and their flag bearers to select their running mates.

Over the years, these discussions have been had factoring in the criteria one must meet and certain characteristics one must possess to be a viable candidate to be selected as running mate and that viability is mostly based on how that person can attract ‘new’ votes. In the past, the popularly discussed criteria were ethnicity or region, age and religion. The most recent additions have been profession or career discipline and gender.

All these have been considered by political parties in the selections of their running mates going into general elections since 2000. I believe these criteria were considered to achieve strategic balance that sought to appeal to targeted viable segments in the voter market.

For example, I believe one of the main reasons why Prof Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang was selected by NDC’s John Mahama going into election 2020 is because she is female and her selection duly represents the inclusive agenda of the party at the time.

Also, Dr Bawumia’s selection in 2007 going into election 2008 by NPP’s HE President Nana Akufo-Addo was influenced by his professional background as an economist since ‘transforming the economy’ was one of the main agenda of the party at the time.

This year’s election presents a very interesting case for the NPP as this is the first time the party is being led by one who is not Akan and one who is Muslim, Dr Bawumia.

Many political analysts have tried to assess and speculate how this new development is going to turn out for the NPP in terms of consolidation of votes from their base and strong holds. This then brings up the conversation of who Dr Bawumia is going to select as his running mate. Many names have come up in the media and analysis have been done.

This article therefore outlines some key criteria that Dr Bawumia may consider in his selection of a running mate.

1. Ethnicity & Tribe - An Akan most likely Ashanti as indicated by Top NPP officials. Strategy implication is to appeal to electoral ‘cash cow’ of the NPP, the Ashanti region. This strategy is to create a sense of ownership among Ashantis and to a larger extent Akans so that ‘they’ still rally behind ‘their’ party even though the one leading it is not one of them in terms of tribal lines.

2. Religion & Sect - A Christian is most likely a staunch member of any of the densely populated sects that are scattered nationwide. Strategy implication is to appeal to Christians, the largest religious group in Ghana as Bawumia is not a Christian and is a Muslim.

3. Gender - A female most likely. Strategy implication is to counter the main contender NDC’s touting of having a more inclusive orientation as compared to NPP by selecting a female running mate in the last general election in 2020.

4. Personality - A non-domineering personality and unambitious character most likely. Strategy implication is to avoid upstaging and breeding a possible contender for flag bearer in the next NPP presidential primaries as Bawumia will seek to lead the party again as flag bearer.

I believe Dr Bawumia will consider these key elements discussed above leading to his decision to select a running mate for election 2024. Dr Bawumia is expected to announce his decision in coming weeks and the question I leave readers with is, will whoever Dr Bawumia select as his running mate matter?

Chris Atadika
Doctoral Researcher
University of Ghana