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Opinions of Thursday, 17 April 2008

Columnist: Koku Anyidoho

The Path Can Only Be Brighter For Professor Mills And NDC

The day was going to come and it has come and gone.

The naysayers who must have been wishing that their diversionary agenda was going to off-track Professor Atta Mills and the NDC as far as the choosing of a vice presidential candidate was concerned, must know by now that Professor Atta Mills and the NDC are very focused, know the things to concentrate on, and those to walk over .

Professor John Evans Atta Mills has settled on Bole Bamboi MP, Hon John Dramani Mahama, as his choice to be the NDC’s vice presidential candidate and the brouhaha surrounding the choice of who to partner the learned professor has come to a perpetual end.

I take my hat off for the NDC Leader for his very decisive decision to stick to his guns and nominate Hon John Mahama as the person he thinks will best partner him to win massively the mandate of the electorate and give victory not only to the NDC but also to the majority of Ghanaians who are yearning for a meaningful change.

Certainly, it was not an easy decision to make considering the depth of talent in the NDC.

The good Professor was never going to have it easy deciding on who his running mate will be, but I had no doubt that having walked up that road twice before, the astute thinker that Prof is, he will come out with a choice that in his mind, will auger well for the NDC and for Ghana. And indeed, so has he done.

In times past, per the thinking of the NPP, it was a crime for people to acclaim in a popular manner, their choice for a political leader.

But since 2004, when the NPP adopted the “undemocratic” popular acclamation modus operandi and used it to endorse Mr. John Agyekum Kufuor as its presidential candidate, it is now very clear to those who may have been swayed by the NPP’s line of thinking that the act of, popular acclamation, is no crime at all.

So the NDC, via its National Executive Committee (NEC), by popular acclamation, accepted Hon John Dramani Mahama as their Leader’s choice to be the party’s vice presidential candidate.

Indeed, those who thought blood was going to flow at the NEC meeting must have been dumbfounded when the NEC had its shortest ever meeting by applauding the decision of their Leader and Presidential Candidate, leaving the KAMA Conference Center resolved to work in a united manner for victory.

The die is cast, and all true lovers of democracy respect Professor Atta Mills for the choice he has made.

Indeed, my phone lines and the phone lines of lots of my colleagues have not stopped buzzing since the announcement was made to the effect that Hon. John Dramani Mahama is Professor Atta Mills’ preferred choice for the second-in-command slot, and the vibes have been nothing but positive.

There is a lot of excitement in the air that Professor Mills stood his ground and chose Hon. John Mahama, and the electorate seem more than prepared to stand by the decision of Professor Atta Mills.

Indeed, thousands of “floating voters” who were sucked into the false impression that Professor Atta Mills is incapable of doing what he thinks is right by his conscience, now know it for a fact that the learned professor is not a pushover.

In my personal capacity I take this opportunity to congratulate the learned Professor Atta Mills for doing what he did in a very steadfast manner.

To those, who as it were, lost out on being chosen as the NDC’s vice presidential candidate, I know they did not get the nod not because they are incapable of partnering Professor Mills, but because the lot did not fall on them.

It is matter of fact, and part of human nature, that the choice of Professor Mills may not have gone down well with a few persons within the NDC but I am of the firm conviction that since democracy is about the choice of the majority tipping the scales, the few dissenting voices will whip themselves into line in no time and work together with Professor Mills and the NDC to secure victory.

The interest of the NDC must remain supreme at all times, and most of us in the NDC certainly have no doubt that after the naming of Hon John Dramani Mahama as Professor Atta Mills’ choice as vice presidential candidate, everybody will tow the line and work collectively to ensure victory for the NDC.

It is incumbent on all true lovers of the NDC to work hard and ensure that we yank the country out of the hands of the NPP and make sure that Nana Akufo-Addo is never given the chance to continue with the unfriendly policies of Mr. John Agyekum Kufuor and his NPP government.

Professor John Evans Atta Mills, ayekoo, and God bless you for the decision you have taken.

To Hon John Dramani Mahama, on behalf of the thousands who think like me, I say, congratulations, welcome aboard the sailing ship, and please do all you possibly can to make good the trust and confidence that Professor Mills and the NDC have reposed in you.

NDC; Our party is most definitely united for victory.



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