NDC Outdoors Running Mate Prof. Naana Opoku-Agyemang In Style; Promises Rescue Mission

The National Democratic Congress (NDC), took another major step towards the December general elections on Wednesday, April 23 when it outdoored its presidential running mate, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang.

At the official unveiling at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), which was marked with style, gurus of the party including the flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama and hundreds of supporters cheered on as the former Minister of Education delivered a speech spanning more than two hours .

This is the second time that the former Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast has been chosen as running mate to Mr Mahama. In her first time in 2020, the NDC lost the election to the NPP.

Rescue mission
In her address, Prof. Opoku-Agyemang, stated that the 2024 general election is a crucial moment for healing and the NDC is poised to rescue Ghana from the brink of destruction and despair.

She stressed that the election holds a key in revitalising Ghana’s future, as it represents more than a mere quest for power. “The election is not only about bringing the NDC back to power, which is indispensable in our current circumstances. The elections ahead and winning them is about winning elections for a purpose. The purpose goes beyond those enumerated above. The purpose is the opportunity to heal our country again. It is about the opportunity to pull Ghana back from the precipice of destruction, of normalising corruption, of incomprehensible greed and from deep despair,” she stated.

Confidence
The NDC running mate emphasized that the party seeks to work towards a Ghana where citizens have confidence and hope and are determined to regain their independence of thought and of agenda.

Excerpts of her acceptance speech below
To my family, colleagues, and friends, all those who have sent me volumes of moving letters and voice and written notes and songs and prayers of support since my nomination, accept my undying gratitude. My plea is for all of us, bound by a shared vision to see our country take a turn for the better, to work towards realizing that vision.

As I stated in my brief acceptance note on March 7, 2024, by renominating me you have demonstrated your remarkable consistency and unwavering commitment to inclusivity and innovation. I have heard you share with the public your rationale for choosing me, again. I have found that very touching. Thank you very much; as the Gonjas express it with meaning: ansan kushun.

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, understanding and a devotion to duty.

My output, going forward, by the Grace of God, will continue to demonstrate what the world knows already, that women are also capable of high achievements; that we do so with that reservoir of strength, determination, and mental acuity that only those who are noble and far-sighted can comprehend and contend with.

I will share in our collective successes and, share responsibility for our setbacks if any. And, at the time of reckoning, HE John Dramani Mahama, I will not, in the advancement of self-serving ambition, declare to the world that I was only the driver’s mate.

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, before I go on to other important matters, please let me state my understanding of where we are as a country and the implications of what lays ahead, as clearly as I can manage it: the election ahead of us is not about making history, although that is important. It is not about returning a former president back to power, or about producing the first woman vice president, historical and exciting though they are. It is not only about bringing the National Democratic Congress to power although that is indispensable in our current circumstances.

It is about winning the elections for a purpose that goes beyond those enumerated above. The purpose is the opportunity to hold our country together, again; to heal Ghana; it is about the chance to pull Ghana from the precipice of destruction, of normalizing corruption, of incomprehensible greed, from deep despair. The election ahead is about hard work and abiding sacrifice. It is to embrace everyone in building a Ghana that functions, again.

It is to work towards a Ghana where citizens have confidence and hope and are determined to regain their independence of thought and of 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. It is a chance to work hard towards a country where citizens do not feel disrespected, are not intimidated, ignored because of the way they vote or the language they speak. 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.

My brothers and sisters, we are not in ordinary times. This is not news. Some of us have been around for a while and have experienced the to-and-fro of politics in Ghana. But never have we experienced the levels of greed, unbridled arrogance, unrestrained impunity, sheer dishonesty, barefaced hypocrisy and incompassion displayed by this incumbent government over the past seven years and more.

The task ahead is formidable, much more than it was four years ago. I remain inspired by the fact that, as a people, we have faced terrible situations before. Check our history. Please don’t begin with the Fourth Republic or the struggle for independence, important though they are. Go hundreds of years back. In those hard times, our forefathers and foremothers, did not throw up their arms in despair. They fought back; they resisted, they sacrificed, they persevered; they brought back hope where there was none; they picked up the broken pieces and carefully, strategically, sewed them back, and they left for us a legacy of selflessness, patriotism, and pride. It’s our turn to leave the same and even better to our future generations. Giving up is not an option.

John and I have agreed, that whoever has participated in the plunder of the state must be held accountable. This is not a threat; it is a promise, premised on the wishes of our citizens across the various political and social divides, and hinged on the principle of accountability.

Let us face the facts: The promotion of ethnocentric elitism masquerading as intellectualism; nepotism cloaked as know-how; weakness strutting as courage; and crony capitalism masked as development in freedom; shameless hypocrisy acting as objectivity… these never served a country determined to make progress at any level.

Rather, the most significant achievement of these things has been a country in near insolvency, its natural resources such as water and land and environment in rebellion, a people harassed and intimidated into numbness and as some say cynically, bribed into silence.

Do not fall victim to those who have realized that having failed in sloganeering and packaging, they have exhausted their strategies and therefore resort to deception and destruction. We are particularly pleased to see, as evidenced in credible polls, that this visionary policy has caught on and resonated with the public, especially our young people.

I know for a fact that the nation builder, John Mahama, who is not an economist, will deliver this economic model. He thinks through what he says and considers advice; he is confident enough to amend his views when confronted by working alternatives. He does not rush with decisions that have serious effects on the lives of others. John Mahama does not shoot from the hip.

So, as we mentioned several times during the 2020 campaign, we intend to implement the ONE MILLION CODERS PROGRAM, which sets an ambitious and attainable goal to train over a million of our youth in coding, data science, and other tech fields. The potential for this pool of young people to contribute to Ghana’s GDP is enormous, and Insha Allah, it shall happen— live.

Definitely, we will pay special attention to issues and challenges faced by women in all walks of life.
We will also undertake the modernization of our markets, which remain special and dominant places for many women in the economy. Market women deserve the benefits of a clean, modernized marketplace. It must not end with the beautiful Kejetia or attractive Kotokoraba and allied markets.

EC, I address you directly: it is in the national interest, and in your own, that you make transparent what has been and is going on at your establishment. The truth will not be suppressed. You cannot be so independent as to disregard the people who validate your existence. That does not exist anywhere. A word to the wise is in Assin North.

Our beloved country can rise again; Ghana will rise again and this time, not to slack. That is politics; not insults or filthy language, not disrespect or fear, not violence or greed; not abuse of power or hypocrisy. Politics is about fighting injustice, hunger, hopelessness, arrogance, selfishness, unbridled greed, corruption, state capture, disrespect of fellow human beings.

In this fight, we don’t need private armies, mercenaries, destructive ammunition, or, in Ghanaian parlance, “by heart talk” or wanton ruining of hard-earned reputations. That is not politics; it is jealousy hoisted on cowardice.
We need the armour of principles, selflessness, of compassion, of truth, of sacrifice, all these rooted firmly in using power in the service of those who give it to us.