Presidential candidate of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) for the 2024 general elections, John Mahama, is likely to choose Commissioner of Police (COP) Kofi Boakye (retired) as his running mate for the December 2024 polls.
Asaase News reports sources at the NDC headquarters familiar with the ongoing discussion and selection process have indicated that they are increasingly confident that John Mahama will pull a surprise on his party faithful and the nation at large by choosing COP Kofi Boakye (retired).
Kofi Boakye’s friendship with the NDC presidential candidate John Mahama is legendary and an open secret.
The former police chief who hails from the Ashanti Region is also seen as being very close to the Manyhia Palace, the seat of the Ashanti kingdom, and deep-throat sources within the NDC say they see COP Kofi Boakye’s choice as Mahama’s running mate as a way of seeking to win the support of the Manhyia Palace ahead of the 2024 election.
Kofi Boakye, however, faces stiff competition from two other names who are also potential candidates and front runners in the race to select Mr Mahama’s running mate for the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections.
They are Julius Debrah, former Chief of Staff in the erstwhile Mahama administration, and Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyeman, the running mate of Mr John Dramani Mahama in the December 2020 general election.
It is a widely-held view within the rank and file of the NDC that the choice of professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman as running mate to John Dramani Mahama in 2020, failed to deliver victory for the NDC in the Central Region and the nation at large.
To this end, many faithful of the NDC believe that repeating her as the party’s running mate will add very little to the party’s ticket and may not yield any political benefits to the fortune of the NDC in the December 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections.
In recent time, the argument for a running mate to John Mahama to be chosen from the Eastern Region, has dominated the political discourse in the NDC. Some NDC party faithful point out that the Eastern Region has a multi-ethnic mix and only 50% of the region are “Akans” who traditionally vote for the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Others argue that since the current President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who hails from the Eastern Region, will no longer be on the ballot paper, it will be strategic for the NDC to choose a running mate from the Eastern Region.
In the case of Ashanti Region, elements in the NDC believe that it is time to take the fight for power to the stronghold of the NPP by choosing a candidate from the region.
They argue further that if the NPP does not choose either their presidential candidate or running mate from the Ashanti Region, the NDC can put up a strong showing in the region should they choose their running mate from there.
