[ 2014-10-30 ]

Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Boakye Agyarko, Dan Botwe and Stephen Ntim

Who becomes Nana Addo's campaign manager?
Flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana
Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, is set to name his
campaign team and who gets to lead the team as
Campaign Manager in the coming days.

The decision, however, does not seem to be an easy
one for him in view of the usual jostling and
lobbying that often characterise such
appointments.

So far, four names have popped up as those being
considered for the position.

The list surprisingly includes the name of Dr
Mahamudu Bawumia, 2008, 2012 and 2016 vice
presidential candidate of the NPP; alongside Dan
Kwaku Botwe, Member of Parliament for Okere in the
Eastern Region and a two-time General Secretary of
the NPP; Stephen Ntim, former National 1st Vice
Chairman of the NPP; and Edward Boateng, CEO of
the Global Media Alliance.

DAILY GUIDE can however report that there is
intense lobbying by interested parties within the
corridors of power of the NPP to determine who
manages the campaign of the party and its
presidential candidate, going into the 2016
general elections.

After the naming of Dr Mahamudu Bawumia as running
mate to Nana Akufo-Addo last Thursday, October 23,
the next ‘most important’ position up for
grabs in the party is that of Campaign
Manager—the person who would be responsible for
planning and organising a winning campaign and
overseeing all aspects of NPP’s campaign
organisation.

Dr Bawumia

The emergence of Dr Bawumia’s name as one of
those being considered for the position of
Campaign Manager has come as a big surprise to
many party people, considering the fact that he
happens to have been made running mate to the
flagbearer, Nana Akufo-Addo.

However, the idea for him to oversee the 2016
campaign is being mooted strongly by persons who
believe the renowned economist has proven his
worth over the last six years, when he emerged
from political obscurity to become a household
name in Ghanaian politics, especially during the
landmark election petition.

A source at the NPP headquarters at Asylum Down in
Accra told DAILY GUIDE Dr Bawumia “has all the
attributes needed to manage Nana Akufo-Addo’s
campaign.”

According to the source, Dr Bawumia has proven
beyond all reasonable doubt that he is organised,
and pays attention to detail, as depicted in his
sterling performance in the witness box during the
election petition hearing at the Supreme Court.

“He knows what we need to do to strengthen the
party at the polling station level and what we
need to do to plug the loopholes the NDC exploited
in 2012,” an NPP MP said.

Also, his in-depth analyses on the state of the
Ghanaian economy, which have all been vindicated,
have proved as an extra shot in the arm for those
pushing the ‘Bawumia for Campaign Manager’
agenda.

Additionally, the paper can confirm that the
50-year-old Bawumia, a former Deputy Governor of
the Bank of Ghana (BoG), has become the ‘darling
boy’ of Nana Akufo-Addo, and indeed many
supporters within the NPP.

The level of trust and confidence reposed in him
by Nana Akufo-Addo is evident over the course of
the 2012 general elections, and recently the
internal presidential primary contests which
resulted in Nana Akufo-Addo garnering 94.35% of
the valid votes cast.

Nana Akufo-Addo, just as he did in 2012, handed
over responsibility for campaigning in the three
Northern Regions and the Volta Region to Dr
Bawumia.

At the end of the primary, the Northern Region
delivered an astounding 96.50% margin of victory
for Nana Akufo-Addo, 94.64% in the Upper West,
93.78% in the Upper East, and 83.33% in the Volta
Region, a major improvement on the 2010
presidential primary.

Dan Botwe

“The General”, as he is popularly known, Dan
Kwaku Botwe’s clout as an election winner,
stemming from his exploits in 2000 and 2004
elections when the NPP won political power, cannot
be overshadowed in the bid by lobbyists to get him
the top job of being the man in-charge of Nana
Akufo-Addo’s campaign.

“He excites the grassroots of our party and this
is crucial in firing up members of our party to
work tirelessly for victory,” a Dan Botwe
lobbyist told the paper.

This will not be the first time Dan Botwe would be
working as a member of Nana Akufo-Addo’s
campaign team, having snapped up the position of
Director of Campaign Strategy going into the 2012
general elections, which the NPP lost.

However, his backers, most of whom are said to be
Regional Chairmen of the party, believe “nothing
short of victory” will be delivered to the NPP
should ‘the General’ be given charge of the
NPP campaign going into the 2016 elections.

“He has proven that he knows how to win
elections. The grassroots of the party know him
and love him and believe he will focus the
campaign at that level,” an aide of his told the
paper.

Stephen Ntim

Having been the Middle Belt sector co-ordinator
for Nana Akufo-Addo’s campaign in the just-ended
NPP flagbearership contest, which saw him deliver
97.96%, 93.33% and 93.25% margins of victory for
Nana Akufo-Addo in the Eastern, Ashanti and Brong
Ahafo Regions respectively, a very strong case is
being made for Stephen Ntim to be handed the
Campaign Manager position.

With political pundits stating that the NPP needs
to overwhelmingly win the majority of votes from
the Ashanti, Eastern and Brong Ahafo Regions to
win the next election, his backers insist Ntim’s
track record speaks volumes.

They cite the fact that the NPP has a formidable
team in the regions, with the 10 strong regional
chairmen, who have shown signs of hunger and
readiness for power.

“We do not need a strong, domineering
personality at the top. Nana wants to run a
decentralised campaign, the kind that delivered
the 94% victory. Ntim is seen as easy to work
with,” a party faithful who worked with Ntim on
his recent campaign to be the NPP National
Chairman told the paper.

Another plus for the former National 1st Vice
Chair of the party is that he has a very close
relationship with Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.

He is also seen as having no presidential ambition
and must be given the role to play.

In the last two presidential campaigns, Nana
Akufo-Addo settled on people with presidential
ambitions including Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku in 2008
and Boakye Agyarko in 2012 as heads of his
campaign team.

Both men contested against him in the 2007
flagbearership primary of the party.

Some people are also subtly rooting for Agyarko to
be made the Campaign Manager for the 2016
election.

Edward Boateng

Perhaps the ‘relatively unknown’ of the
quartet is Edward Boateng of Global Media Alliance
fame.

Described as the ‘systems man’, Edward Boateng
has been involved in campaigns of the NPP from as
far back as the year 2000 and has sat on
presidential campaign committees since the year
2004.

Mr Boateng, who is a media mogul, is seen as the
man who can help to ensure that there is a
seamless coordination among the various campaign
structures.

“He may not be a grassroots man but has the
managerial prowess and campaign experience to
ensure that when strategies are agreed on, they
are implemented,” according to one of his key
staff members.

Dilemma

The choice of who gets to head his campaign team
as Manager therefore seems an arduous task for
Nana Akufo-Addo, considering the intense jostling
and lobbying from not only key and influential
members of the NPP but his close allies and
associates.

Unlike his two previous flagbearership campaigns,
for this year’s emphatic victories in the
two-staged presidential primaries, Nana Akufo-Addo
did not name any Campaign Manager.

Instead, he ran the campaign himself, chairing a
Campaign Coordinating Team which included his key
strategists such as Dr Bawumia, Akosua Frema
Opare, Victor Newman, Boakye Agyarko and Lord
Commey.

The highly decentralised campaign structure
divided the country into four sectors, with Dr
Bawumia heading the Northern Belt (Northern, Upper
East and Upper West Regions), Stephen Ntim, the
Middle Belt (Brong Ahafo, Ashanti and Eastern
Regions) and former Mayor of Accra, Stanley Nii
Adijri Blankson, handling the Southern Belt (Volta
and Greater Accra).

Beneath the sector coordinators were 10 regional
coordinators, who were all selected from the party
structures, assisted by 275 coordinators, who were
also delegates.

It was this system, chaired by Nana Akufo-Addo,
which delivered 81% victory on August 31 and 94%
on October 18.

Source - Daily Guide

... go Back