Dr. Nduom presenting Brigitte Akosua Koshie Dzogbenuku (on his left) to PPP delegates
Presidential Candidate of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, has picked former Miss Ghana, Brigitte Akosua Koshie Dzogbenuku, as his running mate for the 2016 presidential election.
After breaking away from the Convention People’s Party (CPP) and forming his own party (the PPP), Dr. Nduom in 2012 selected former Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) Director-General, Eva Lokko as his running mate.
Brief Profile
Ms. Dzogbenuku, who was outdoored yesterday at the party’s Asylum Down head office in Accra, hails from Ve-Koloenu in the Afadjato South District of the Volta Region and is an entrepreneur by profession.
She was Miss Ghana in 1991 and is the founder and Executive Director of Mentoring Women Ghana (MWG).
MWG, DAILY GUIDE gathered, is a non-profit organization she launched in 2009 after participating in Vital Voices’ Fortune/U.S. State Department Global Women’s Mentoring Partnership in 2008.
She owns a private company that does business with the Barclays Clubhouse, in addition to MW. She has established some companies and held various positions.
Acceptance Speech
In her acceptance speech at the function which was attended by party delegates and traditional leaders from the Volta Region, Ms. Dzogbenuku expressed profound gratitude to the party and its flagbearer for reposing trust in her, and pledged to work hard to secure victory for the PPP on December 7.
She was emphatic that her partnership with Dr. Nduom would deliver fruitful results for the party, saying “My acceptance speech is simple – I am a Ghanaian and I think I am the best person to hold this position.”
Impunity Galore
She expressed concern about the breakdown of norms and values in the Ghanaian society – something she indicated was responsible for the high level of corruption and “impunity galore” in the country today.
“I grew up in the barracks during the revolution of June 4th, 1979 and saw what disrespect of authority did to friends of my father and fathers of my friends – some suffered as mild as shaven heads from non-commissioned officers– humiliating enough,” she said.
She continued, “But far better than those who were led to the firing range and killed for taking small loans. What do we see now? Impunity galore?”
Explaining further, she indicated, “I am a Ghanaian who knows that no self-respecting child who grew up during that era particularly in the barracks should incite passions and instigate young people against those in authority, nor should they act with impunity and indiscipline.”
The ex-beauty queen wondered, “Yet what do we see from the examples of people – our leaders – who ought to know better? These are people who are now so totally corrupted by the largesse of power that for now anything goes.”
Change
Notwithstanding, Ms. Dzogbenuku expressed the hope that Ghana can get back on its feet from the incompetence and corruption by the Mahama-led National Democratic Congress (NDC).
“I am a Ghanaian who believes Government can work again, without high levels of corruption, wastefulness, selfishness and misappropriation of the taxpayers’ money,” she said.
Dr. Nduom, in a statement to introduce his running mate, explained that the PPP, when given the nod, would promote an all-inclusive society, irrespective of the ethnic, religious and political affiliations of Ghanaians.
BY Melvin Tarlue