General News of Wednesday, 21 June 2023

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Bawumia not vying for president to amass wealth; he'll be different - Spokesperson

Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia with his wife at the event to submit his nomination forms Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia with his wife at the event to submit his nomination forms

Spokesperson of Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has stressed that unlike others, his boss is vying to be a president to serve Ghanaians and not to amass wealth.

In a June 20, 2022 interview on Citi TV, Dr. Gideon Boako, disclosed that Bawumia entered politics to serve and that is the motivation behind his bid to ascend to the presidency on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

He stressed the political weight of his principal stating that Bawumia was the most influential person in terms of ideas and vision in Ghana’s politics.

“I think Dr. Bawumia has been the most influential person in our politics in terms of ideas and vision. A vision that you can identify with. Politics has moved to politics of ideas, so you need such visionary leaders who have organized themselves well and committed themselves.

"You can see through them that they are not into politics to amass wealth for themselves. But they are into politics to ensure that things work. That has been the Vice President, working to make sure things are done properly. The people see him to be a unifier,” he underscored.

Boako also addressed tribal concerns swirling around the candidature of Bawumia who could potentially become the first Northerner to run on the ticket of the NPP as a presidential candidate.

“The NPP has a candidate who is not an Akan, the advantage it brings to the party is that, while there will not be any motivation for an NPP supporter in the Akan area to say I won’t vote for Bawumia because he’s a Northerner and I’m going to vote for a former President John Dramani Mahama who is also a Northerner.

“You are able to consolidate your gains in your strongholds. Then you leave Dr. Bawumia and Mr. Mahama to fight in the strongholds of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) where they both come from.

"And see whether or not your candidate will have a competitive advantage over the NDC in his own backyard. That is where the strength of Dr. Bawumia comes in. Dr. Bawumia has been able to exert a lot of influence to the advantage of the NPP in the North”.

Bawumia will come up against other contenders like Alan Kyerematen, Kennedy Agyapong, Francis Addai-Nimoh, Kofi Konadu Apraku and others in the race to lead the NPP into the 2024 elections.