The professor has passed the test. Thanks Mrs Rawlings!

The heated internal political discussions in the NDC that preceded Professor Atta Mill’s selection of Mr John Dramani Mahama as his running mate for the 2008 general elections should not be viewed as indications of disintegration in the NDC as many have intimated. We see this rather as a victory for democracy in the country and an end to the long politically engineered and damaging debate regarding the ability of Prof. Mills to be ”his own man” and to “deliver the goods” as the next President of Ghana. Mrs Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings should be commended for strongly advocating for an equally qualified female running mate for Professor Mills, even though her political opponents viewed her efforts as a manifestation of their conviction that the NDC and the Professor are at the beck and call of the Rawlingses.

By selecting Hon Mahama as his running mate, Professor Mills has proved that he is capable of taking tough and qualified decisions in tune with party regulations and with the blessings of party elders and members. In so doing, he has also taken a bold and important step in discrediting and disarming a mindset that sees the Rawlingses as having a hegemonic sway over the affairs of NDC. It is our view that this will augur well for the prospects of NDC winning the elections in December.

The strength of a bridge, it is often said, is best determined by the state of its weakest parts. The same applies to society. The strength or wellbeing of a society is determined by the living conditions of its poor and dispossessed, the common people. What Ghana needs is the best brains and devoted leaders who can make effective decisions and take bold steps that are in the interest of the nation. We need people who will go into politics not for personal aggrandizement, but to help improve the life chances of those they represent. Ghanaians yearn for leaders who will manage their resources properly especially now that there is oil in the picture. As someone has succinctly put it,”Resources are not, they become”.

Many who underrate or question the capabilities and independent resolve of the learned professor seem not to be aware of his professional prowess and astuteness. He has displayed excellence in activities that he has engaged in throughout most of his adult life, activities that have involved making and effectuating informed, tough and just decisions. Ghanaians who have had the privilege of being part of the university system and are aware of Professor Mills’ academic and intellectual legacies will bear us out. We commend Mrs Rawlings and other NDC stalwarts who voiced their preference for another running mate for helping to promote accommodation of diverse views within NDC, and to disarm an ill-informed mindset that would have robbed Ghanaians of a visionary and caring “people first” President.

God Bless Ghana!

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