President John Mahama Picks Veep

Dr Paa Kwesi Amissah Arthur

The governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Paa Kwesi Amissah Arthur, barring any unlikely alterations, is the man whose name President John Mahama will present to parliament as his deputy.

At the time of filing this report yesterday, the president was locked up with his party leadership fine-tuning the process prior to the presentation and subsequent announcement, latest by Wednesday.

The name is expected to be sent to parliament today, with power brokers fighting tooth and nail to swing the tide in their direction.

Dr Kwesi Botchwey, a former finance minister, is also in strong contention for the slot, even though the governor is in pole position.

There has been intense lobbying for that top position.

The running mate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP’s) presidential candidate, Mahamudu Bawumia’s mastery over economics, against the backdrop of his identification of the challenges facing the country’s fiscal management, was largely used by the opposition NPP to parry political polemics from its rival National Democratic Congress (NDC) as the two engaged each other in the game of partisan politics.

It is expected that with such a choice, the NDC would be able to respond adequately to the incursions of Dr. Bawumia.

The running mate to the flag-bearer of the NPP was the deputy governor of the apex bank and one could easily conclude that the two leading parties are letting loose their gurus of fiscal management on the political arena.

The short-listing of the Bank of Ghana governor is the culmination of a brief but stressful challenge given the long list of possibilities.

His name has automatically knocked off Goosie Tanoh and Dr Kwesi Botchwey, both front-runners in the early moments of the selection process.

Dr Botchwey, who was head-to-head with the Bank of Ghana governor, was the favourite of the old guard NDC personalities such as Captain Kojo Tsikata, while Goosie Tanoh enjoyed the support of Johnson Asiedu-Nketia, NDC general secretary.

When the name of the banker is finally submitted procedurally to parliament, the horde of party faithful with eyes on the coveted position would sheath their political swords and perhaps look elsewhere should the president consider replacing some government appointees.

The jostling for the vice president position has not failed to attract the scorn of some Ghanaians who wondered why in the face of the week of mourning, people still went ahead to lay claim to the position, a day after the former president’s death.

Paul Victor Obeng, a former presidential advisor and current chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Trade Minister Hannah Tetteh; Lands and Natural Resources Minister Mike Allen Hammah and Goosie Tanoh of the defunct National Reform Party (NRP) fame, were all names which made it to the consideration stage until they were shot down eventually.

Akosua Puni And Michael Essien

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