Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang
A former Minister for Education, Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, has pledged her loyalty to the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer, ex-President John Dramani Mahama, after being outdoored as his running mate for this year’s election.
Mr. Mahama in March this year re-nominated Naana, a literature professor who served as Ghana’s first female Vice-Chancellor, as his running mate, and the party set to unveil her at the UPSA’s Ohene Konadu auditorium in Accra yesterday.
In her acceptance speech, Prof. Naana expressed her deepest appreciation to the party and its flagbearer for endorsing her to partner Mr. Mahama.
“By re-nominating me, you have demonstrated your remarkable consistency and unwavering commitment to inclusivity and innovation.
“I see your choice as an affirmation of your belief in the capabilities of the Ghanaian woman. I will repay your abiding confidence with loyalty, with understanding and a devotion to duty.
“My outputs, going forward by the grace of God, will continue to demonstrate, which the world knows already, that women are also capable of high achievement,” she asserted.
Prof. Naana Opoku-Agyemang said women do so with that “reservoir of strength, determination and mental acuity that only those who are noble and farsighted like you can comprehend and contend with.”
“I will share in our collective successes and shared responsibility, and at the time of reckoning, Your Excellency John Dramani Mahama, I will not in the advancement of self-serving ambition, declare to the whole world that I was only the driver’s mate,” she intimated.
According to her, this year’s elections are not so much about Ghana making history or electing the country’s first female vice president, but it is about pulling the country back from the “precipice of destruction of normalising corruption of incomprehensive greatness.”
She said this could only be achieved if the NDC members work hard and make sacrifices, asserting that she was confident and determined that Ghanaians would regain their independence of thoughts and agenda.
“We must work towards a Ghana that at the very least, can feed itself; where the law truly works; where there is shared prosperity; where democracy has not become a fluke; where people are not abused and where the basic necessities of life are not denied the majority or eventually, anyone.”
“The victory we seek as a party is to invite everyone to the onerous task of rebuilding a broken Ghana, of restoring hope, in a manner that the NDC is capable of doing by their history and achievements,” she added.
Mahama
The NDC flagbearer, on his part, said under his administration, his running mate who will become the vice president will have oversight among others of the education, health, gender and social protection sectors.
According to him, an NDC government which he heads will have a seamless bridge between the Office of the President and the Office of the Vice President.
“I’m happy to present to you my running mate and by the grace of God and the words of you, my fellow citizens, I’m happy to present Ghana’s next Vice President,” Mr. Mahama said.
The NDC leader employed the Bible and asked, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” while grinning with confidence that they will win the presidential election on December 7.
By Ernest Kofi Adu