Race to General Secretary : NDC needs experienced Elvis Afriyie Ankrah for task ahead of 2024

As the opposition National Democratic Congress, hereafter referred to as NDC undergoes an internal reorganization in anticipation of rescuing power from the ruling New Patriotic Party, one thing that will play key is the calibre of leaders elected to frontier the fortunes of the party at the various levels.

In Ghana today, it is very easy to conclude based on current happenings that the New Patriotic Party-led Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government has fallen out of reality and touch with the ordinary Ghanaian people and deserves to be bundled out of power unceremoniously without any regret.

In fact, as a matter of honesty, you don't need to be a rocket scientist or possess voodooist powers to tell the elevated scantiness of this government, all you need to do is to read the excruciating "misery" on the faces of the ordinary Ghanaian amidst the booing and chanting of disapproval of the president at the 2022 Global Citizens Festival in Accra by the youth.

The above presidential scorn which is fast becoming a norm happened in September and successfully succeeded a similar fate the president suffered in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region on Monday, October 17, when he was inspecting the Phase II of the Kejetia/Central Market Project.

The most recent of such episodes of public rejection and national embarrassment of this government was the booeing of the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia in the Volta Region during the Hogbetsotso festival when he attempted to create a misleading impression about what the people said were non-existing projects in the region.

In the middle of all these, however, one should not be deluded to conclude easily the inclination of the New Patriotic Party to hand over power come 2024 should the party lose the elections in the likely event.

What this implies is that the biggest opposition party, the NDC, which many are banking their hopes on to take over the reins of power in delivering Ghana from the regrettable doom days needs decisive, experienced, zealous, and true-blue downright leaders to meet the expectations of despairing citizens in the "nation's rescue mission".

As a passionate blogger/reporter with a firm belief in the ideals of social democracy and a deep sense of desire for change in 2024, I have taken a keen interest in who eventually is elected to replace the veteran Johnson Asiedu Nketiah as Chief Scribe of the NDC after 17 years of dedicated service (since 2005)...

This I do in good faith, knowing very well the key and invaluable role the likely successor of General Mosquito as he was affectionately called, has to play in our nation's current liberation fight.

I have become aware of the bid by three qualified giants and respected senior comrades of the party, thus: Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, Director of Elections of the NDC and former Sports Minister; Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, former Deputy Finance Minister and former Propaganda Secretary of the NDC and current Deputy General Secretary, Dr. Peter Boamah Otokunor to occupy the enviable position of General Secretary in managing the correspondence and daily routines of the National Democratic Congress.

But if the NDC, widely perceived as the party to form the next government-in-waiting truly want to take the 'already won Political power from the disoriented NPP government come 2024, then the calibre of Elvis Afriyie Ankrah should be the ultimate choice and priority of delegates to occupy the high office of General Secretary.

I hold this conviction without any prejudice to the other equally qualified candidates, who when given the opportunity, can equally serve the party very well, albeit in different capacities or positions.

Not to over belabor the point that, out of the many who are called to this position, only and only Elvis Afriyie Ankrah should be the chosen one based on his vast knowledge in election management, campaign strategies, and deep appreciation of issues of security.

The man Elvis Afriyie Ankrah is a seasoned election and campaign strategist with over 15 years of experience in the hidden secrets of winning elections and protecting the sovereign will of the people exercised at the polls.

It is well to state that, the charismatic par excellent Elvis Ankrah played a vital role in the political success of my mentor, the late president Attah Mills in 2008 and subsequently, the political messiah, John Dramani Mahama in 2012

By the grace of God, hon. Elvis Afriyie Ankrah was the Deputy General Secretary of the NDC in 2005 and steered the party formidably in that position until the party was voted into government in 2008 under his able leadership as the Deputy National Campaign Manager.

He was the National Campaign Manager of the John Dramani Mahama campaign in 2012 and as usual of him, delivered a resounding victory for the party. This man from my observation seems to possess an enviable hallmark from the track record, of winning elections even in the face of every storm.

As a former Minister for Youth and Sports under president Mahama and Deputy Minister for Local Government and Rural Development under president Mills, the much-awaited Elvis Ankrah who is the hope of the grassroots brings to the table the experience, positive energy, and synergy needed to drive the NDC through to a resounding electoral victory and success beyond 2024. This feel of victory with the Elvis Afriyie Ankrah factor can naturally be found in his political DNA visible in the face of the speaking records.

During his recent tenure as the Director of Elections of the NDC, in his usual critical and technologically inclined nature, he led the NDC team to discover the printing of over one million ballot papers at an unknown location by hirelings of the NPP.

This effort and many more innovations he brought on board the election front eventually led to the party delivering a hung parliament for the people of Ghana for the first time in history. I wish this man before the 2020 elections were occupying a substantive position in the party, like by now, NDC in his usual winning and yet-to-be-discovered spirit is on the seat of government.

Elvis, whom I choose to call a political enigma and a riddle to be studied by the youth of the NDC is a multilingual with vast knowledge in international relations and media, thanks to his background as a journalist and would painstakingly leverage this to market the NDC party beyond the shores of Ghana

Comrades and revered delegates, he best fit for the position of General Secretary of the NDC at this critical stage of the nation's history, where change should be inevitable at all legitimate costs.

Let me stress that, any mistake in this choice of leadership will translate to continuous untold hardship and suffering borne on the people of Ghana by this atrocious and desperate government which has left everybody, including their own majority MPs and party supporters emotionally forlorn of hope.

(I may in the coming days delve into the pair of chairman and secretary best matched for the task ahead of the NDC in 2024 in taking the power already won for the party by the Akufo-Addo and Bawumia-led government).

But until then, note that the NDC can only be as strong in 2024 as the people who will be leading the positive flow of the party from the top.

We may try to look North, South, East, or West, but the radar of the General Secretary of the great NDC will always point back to the self-accomplished man with countless achievements that this single article cannot properly capture- Elvis Afriyie Ankrah.

He is the unassuming choice of the grassroots. Number one (2) on the ballot-the chosen one in the politics of numbers.

Let me attend to this important call to community duty to my Electoral Area, the great Canteen. I shall be back with more insights!

Brief Political life of Elvis Afriyie Ankrah:

Born on 6th January 1967, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah is a Ghanaian politician and the former Minister for Youth and Sports in Ghana.

His mother hails from Atiavi, near Keta, in the Volta Region of Ghana and his father was from Ahenema Kokoben in the Ashanti Region.

He attended Okuapeman Secondary School, graduating in 1984 with the GCE Ordinary Level, and proceeded to the London College of Computing and Electronics where he obtained a certificate in Business and Administrative Computing in 1986.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts Honours Degree in English, Drama, and Linguistics from the University of Ghana and a Master of Arts degree in International Affairs from the Legon Centre for International Affairs in 2002.

He is a devoted Christian married with four children.

Outside politics, Hon Afriyie-Ankrah is involved in entrepreneurship, events management, public relations, and human resource management consultancy.

He is an astute motivational speaker with several speaking engagements like Africa’s Economic Development; Youth Entrepreneurship and Employment; and other youth-related issues held in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Canada, and Germany.

He has instituted the Youth LEADERSHIP and EMPOWERMENT SUMMIT under the EAA CONSULT and the NEW MILLENNIUM FOUNDATION to provide MOTIVATION, DIRECTION LEADERSHIP, and MENTORSHIP mainly to Students in our Tertiary Institutions.

He has also published a motivational book entitled ‘SEVEN STEPS TO FULFILLING YOUR PURPOSE AND MISSION IN LIFE.’
Hon Afriyie-Ankrah is currently part of a programme titled: ‘Transforming Leadership for the 21st Century Africa,’ which is a collaboration between Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and the Aga Khan University Graduate School of Media and Communications.

He is a Graduate Fellow of the John F. Kennedy School of governance at Havard University and was offered a senior Executive Fellow Program in 2016.

He attended the Defense Academy of the UK in June 2015, and trained in key aspects of Leadership and Change Management in addressing the risk of corruption within the Defence and Security Sector, Procurement, and Human Resource Management and on operations in Finance

He was the SRC president of the University of Ghana between 1994-1996 and ensured the establishment of Radio Universe (105.7FM), the first officially authorized private radio station in Ghana on the university of Ghana campus.