NDC bigwigs thought I should be chairman – Kojo Bonsu

Flagbearer hopeful of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Kojo Bonsu has said a lot of the bigwigs in the party wanted him to be the chairman of the party after he had introduced the unity walks to unite the party following their defeat in the 2016 polls.

According to him, there have been massive calls on him to contest the flagbearer race of the NDC and to heed the call of the masses, he has resorted to contest.

“When I started the Unity Walks I went around talking to people and even a lot of the party bigwigs thought I should be the chairman of the party. But listening to the people on the ground and they are the people we are going to serve, they told me: ‘why don’t you have a shot at the big one?’ It is not one place, everywhere I’m being told to go for the shot and if people are pleading that I go for the shot and they think you have the acumen, the strength and the experience to run for government, why do you look at them and say no?” the former Kumasi Mayor said on Accra-based Starr FM on Thursday, 4 October 2018.

Mr Bonsu said he wants to see an NDC that actively puts in place programmes to empower its members “like the current branch education programme that aims to turn the regions into a force for victory,” and an NDC that opens new channels to achieve inclusiveness in the decision-making process.

He noted that under his leadership, the NDC would be a party that can offer a workable plan for the economic transformation of Ghana

Last week, Mr Bonsu paid a courtesy call on former President Jerry John Rawlings to inform him of his intention and to also seek his blessing, just as most of the aspirants to the flagbearer slot had done.

Mr Bonsu joins a raft of aspirants including former President John Mahama, former Minister of Trade and Industries Ekow Spio-Garbrah, former Greater Accra Regional Minister Prof Joshua Alabi, former CEO of the National Health Insurance Authority Sylvester Mensah, former Central Regional Minister Kweku Ricketts-Hagan, former aide to Mr Rawlings Goosie Tanoh, Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin, legal practitioner Elikplim Agbemava, businessman Nurudeen Iddrisu and Handyman Stephen Atubiga.

The party will elect a flag bearer in December.