From losing parliamentary election to becoming Chief of Staff in just 2 years – The story of Julius Debrah

The former Chief of Staff of Ghana, Julius Debrah, has narrated the circumstances that led to him becoming the Chief of Staff of former President John Dramani Mahama. Speaking in an interview with Kwahu Ambassador, which was monitored by GhanaWeb, Julius Debrah said that he never expected in his wildest dream to become the Chief of Staff of Ghana months after losing a parliamentary election. According to him, after losing his bid to become the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Suhum Constituency in the 2012 Election, he surprisingly got his first appointment under President John Dramani Mahama as the Eastern Regional Minister in 2013. After reporting in Koforidua to commence the process of handing over, he was reappointed as the Minister for the Greater Accra Region. A year into his service in the capital, he was returned to the Eastern Region as the Minister and this time he spent 4 months in that office. Unbeknownst to him, ex-President Mahama had come to love his work ethics and output, so appointed him as the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development - a cabinet position he says he never lobbied or asked for. Recounting how a son of Kwahu got into politics and rose to become a leader, Hon Debrah said that the greatest shock of his life was when President Mahama appointed him as his Chief of Staff while he was on an official government assignment abroad. “The president one day sent me on an official assignment to Kenya; I was leading a delegation there. So, I went to see the president a day before leaving for the assignment, to appreciate better what he needed me to do, so I will not go and waste the state's money. So, the president told me what he needed from me when I went to the programme. “The surprising thing is that the president never told me that he wanted me to be his Chief of Staff. After I had arrived in Kenya and was settling down in my hotel room, I received a call from Ras Mubarak (then MP), who started congratulating me. So, I asked him why he was doing that. And he told me to stop pretending. “I asked him what he was talking about and he said I was the new Chief of Staff. I could not believe him. I was asking myself whether this could be true because I was just with the president just the day before and he did not tell me anything. But the calls kept coming and people were congratulating me,” he narrated in Twi. “I cannot explain how this happened but give all the praise to God Almighty and President Mahama. In less than two years, I was a minister for two regions, a cabinet minister and a chief of staff,” he told the host. This was his brief remarks in an interview with vlogger Kwahu Ambassador in a period the indigenes of Kwahu met to launch a book on the history of the people of Kwahu as part of efforts to mobilize Kwahu indigenes from all spheres of life towards the development of Kwahu. Brief profile Mr Debrah studied at Mpraeso Secondary School and then moved to Achimota Secondary School for his A-Levels from 1987 to 1989. Following this, he moved into business and became successful, before gaining admission to the University of Ghana where he obtained a BA in Archaeology and Sociology. Debrah spent 18 years of his working life in the hospitality industry, real estate and agriculture sector. A native of Obomeng Kwahu from the royal Aduana clan, Debrah is married with four children.