Aliu’s supporters in London hold Press Conference

The London Group, a Uk-based think-tank and support group for His Excellency, the Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, was officially launched at a Press Conference at The Golden Stool restaurant in north London on Saturday, 24th November 2007.

The event was well attended by journalists from all sections of the media including two television stations and a large crowd. In his mission statement, the secretary of the group, Mr Nii Asare-Addy, spelt out the long and short term aims and objectives of the group including the reasons why it is campaigning for the Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama to be the flagbearer of the NPP.
Mr Asare-Addy challenged the NPP as a Party to come out with one compelling reason why a Vice President, and for more than three years the Acting President of Ghana, who has had an outstanding apprenticeship, should not be given the mandate to lead the Party but rather one of the ministers who worked under him should be promoted. He said that under the Agyekum Kufuor/Aliu Mahama administration, the NPP and Ghana have hit their strides and that it would be foolhardy of monumental proportions to relinquish that initiative.

He said: “In all management structures where there is a form of apprenticeship (a vice or deputy), unless the apprentice woefully under performs, or is embroiled in an embarrassing scandal, or has unanswered questions all over the place, he or she is almost invariably promoted to the next level when that position becomes vacant. If the NPP Congress were to reject Aliu Mahama for another person, what would be the credible reason to do so? And would that not be the beginning of the end of the Party as we know it now?”

Mr Asare-Addy further told the audience that “all Vice Presidents are apprentices and potential presidents. Now the apprenticeship is over; Aliu Mahama has passed his training with distinction and he is ready to take over”.

On the question of what the Vice President could bring to the table, Mr Asare-Addy told the ecstatic gathering that “the NPP and Ghana need Aliu Mahama's brand of leadership, temperament and humility”. He added that “Aliu Mahama relates to everyone irrespective of tribe, religion or age. Aliu Mahama has discharged his duties unconditionally; he has been loyal and committed to both Party and country; he has honoured the President in his relationship with him; he has brought dignity, passion, high purpose and positive re-orientation to the Office of the Vice President. He already enjoys a lot of goodwill and respect internationally and among many Ghanaians as a gentleman par excellence; a trustworthy person with an exceptional coolness of head and the presence of mind in terms of Ghana's developmental problems; someone who is capable of confronting the challenges of our Party and country in a controlled and measured way. Arguably, Aliu Mahama is the best Vice President or second in command Ghana has ever had”.

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Mr Asare-Addy reminded the large audience that in July 2000, just before choosing his running mate, John Agyekum Kufuor, then NPP presidential candidate, told The Daily Despatch newspaper in an interview, that “…the running mate should be a presidential material who has the attributes of potential president that is proven experience in political life and general understanding of the problems facing the country.”

He said soon “afterwards, and after a forensic examination, Candidate Kufuor announced his running mate. He was indeed someone 'of presidential material who has the attributes of potential president'. Candidate Kufuor needed to pick a positive cultural architect as running mate. Someone he could trust; a reliable and dependable individual who was acceptable to the National Executive Council of the Party and would be also acceptable to Ghanaians. That person was Alhaji Aliu Mahama.” He said choosing a successor for President Kufuor need not be arduous as the Vice President was well equipped and ready for the job.

He concluded his mission statement by saying that in Aliu Mahama the NPP has a very good chance of attracting the floating voters to augment its core vote. He also said that the NPP could break new grounds by making inroads into the traditionally unfavourable areas and also win the 2008 Parliamentary and Presidential elections handsomely if it elected the Vice Presidents as its Party leader and presidential candidate.

The guest speaker for the event was Honourable Ben Annan, the National Campaign Manager for the Vice President, who specially flew over from Ghana to be at the launch of The London Group. Mr Annan told the assembled media that he would not be doing justice to everyone if he restrained himself “by not disclosing to you that His Excellency is the leading candidate in this race and indeed the man to beat”.

He went on to say that “as the national campaign manager, I can assure you that we are running a decent, progressive and success-yielding campaign and have thrown a big challenge to all the aspirants. Mr Annan said that the campaign has in its “leadership a broad coalition of regional balance in Ghana, culturally and sociologically”.
Mr Annan said as the second highest executive official in the Ghanaian government, the Vice President was the best person to lead the NPP to victory in the 2008 elections. “The wealth of experience he has gained in his current position makes him the most suitable individual in our Party to consolidate and extend the achievements of the past seven years both at the Party and national levels.”
Mr Annan also read “The Mankessim Address” being the address given by the Vice President when he launched his campaign a few weeks ago at Mankessim in the Central Region of Ghana.

The London Group
P O Box 61214, London N17 6WU;
Tel. +44 (0) 20 8885 5180; +44 (0) 7905 069 896
E-mails: [email protected]; [email protected]