Meet The Three Top-notch Candidates On The Final Shortlist To Manage Bawumia’s Campaign.

The Vice President of the Republic and Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, is expected to name his campaign team by Monday, 12 February 2024, a senior aide has disclosed exclusively to Asaase News.

This will come after his scheduled address to the Ghanaian people on Wednesday, 7 February 2024. His speech is expected to effectively set the party into campaign mode. Dr Bawumia is expected to roll out the achievements of the ruling party over the two terms under President Nana Akufo-Addo and to also lay out his vision for Ghana as he offers himself to be elected as the 6th President of the 4th Republic In December 2024.

Asaase News sources indicate that the list of those under consideration to head the campaign team has narrowed down to three well-known personalities in the NPP.

They are, Dan Botwe, a former NPP general secretary, when the party first won power in 2000 and again in 2004 under President John Agyekum Kufuor. He is also MP for Okere, Eastern Region, and Minister of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development (MLGRD). Mr Botwe has been one of the key strategists of the NPP for more than 25 years and commands respect among the rank and file. He quits Parliament after 2024.

Also high on the list is Peter Mac Manu, a former national chairman of the NPP and two-time campaign manager for President Akufo-Addo in the successful 2016 and 2020 campaigns. Like Mr Botwe, Me Mac Manu has institutional memory and has been a key member of national campaigns for over two decades now, first as Western Regional Chairman of the party.

An interesting name for consideration is Kwabena Agyepong. A two-time presidential aspirant (for 2008 and 2024), former general secretary of the NPP, who served as presidential spokesman under John Agyekum Kufuor. He was also a campaign manager for Nana Akufo-Addo’s first presidential primary in 1998. Me Agyepong has been a keen follower of Candidate Bawumia since August 2023 and is expected to play a major role in the party’s bid to win a record third straight term in office.

“Team Bawumia” is expected to be announced with some big political weights and dynamic individuals in the mix.

Already the activities of some of these key personalities in the campaign have been felt. They include Nana Akomea, Fred Oware, Dr Murtula Alolo, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, Joe Anokye, John Boadu, Dr Antoinette Tsiboe-Darko, Sammy Awuku, Anthony Karbo, Dennis Miracles Aboagye, Krobea Asante and Opare Ansah.

The campaign manager will be expected to lead the entire team. The NPP traditionally when choosing a campaign manager turns to look out for a person who knows the party, commands the respect of the party, has experience in previous campaigns, and is not encumbered by things such as being an MP or a government appointee holding an executive position.

To this end, the role of campaign manager typically goes only to a “True Blue” as it will entail leading the candidate’s overall campaign meritoriously, birthing a strategy that will propel Bawumia to victory in the 7 December presidential and parliamentary elections.

 

Botwe

 

Dan Botwe first of the three shortlisted may be put forward for the role of campaign manager, having served as the NPP general secretary and a campaign strategist to the party during 2016 and 2020 when President Akufo-Addo ran for the presidency. He has a wealth of experience that will support Team Bawumia.

Mr Botwe during President Akufo-Addo’s first term presidency, served as the Minister for regional re-organization and development. He thus, supervised the creation of six additional regions to the existing ten when the government came to office. The new regions are, Oti, Savannah, North East, Bono East, Ahafo, and Western North.

In the second term of President Akufo-Addo, Dan Botwe moved on to serve in the cabinet position of Minister of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development (MLGRD), a portfolio that has seen him working directly with the very grassroots both in the NPP and at the local government levels.

Those advocating for Dan Botwe to be the campaign manager indicate that the last two roles he has played together with his previous positions in the NPP and government, give him an upper hand above the other two NPP stalwarts who have also been shortlisted for the campaign manager role.

If Dan Botwe gets the nod, to be the campaign manager, he is expected to resign from office as the Minister for Local Government, Decentralisation, and Rural Development (MLGRD) to concentrate fully on the campaign.

 

Mac Manu

 

 

Another likely candidate for the role of campaign manager is Peter Mac Manu. After serving as the NPP national chairman, Mac Manu took up the role of campaign manager to President Akufo-Addo in December 2016 and December 2020, winning both of those elections for the party.

Those who support his appointment as campaign manager say that he is a safe pair of hands with a fine track record to whom to entrust the campaign.

On the flip side, others suggest that he may have had great success in the past but may not be a good fit for the campaign role today, given the present challenges and the level of energy required to prosecute this crucial campaign facing the NPP.

 

 

Kwabena Agyepong

 

Agyepong, a leading sports commentator in a previous life, is very well known for his eloquence and his command of both English and several local Ghanaian languages. Even though he was a member of Nana Akufo-Addo’s campaigns in 2012 and 2020, he has never served in any official role during Akufo-Addo’s presidency.

In 2010 and 2023, he stood in the NPP presidential primaries but failed to win. Some well-meaning NPP supporters believe that he has been punished enough for the crisis of 2015 and that it is time to leverage on his strengths and capabilities to promote the Bawumia candidacy as well as to tackle apathy in the NPP.
The task ahead

There is a clear and present danger ahead of the ruling NPP in the party’s quest to win a third successive term in office, a feat no political party has yet realised under the Fourth Republican constitution. To achieve this, the NPP ought to have a clear vision and plan to mobilise and energise the party base to turn up in their numbers to vote.

The party also needs a campaign manager who can appeal to supporters whose enthusiasm for the party has waned, persuading them to overlook all the difficulties and challenges that have bedevilled the party while in office in the past seven years and step out to vote for the NPP so that it retains power.

Thus, the campaign manager must be someone who can command respect at all levels of the party, who can quickly master the job of putting the NPP’s presidential candidate above all others who may be contesting the 7 December election and get the job done.

 

 

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