Mahama Chooses Jane Naana As Vice Presidential candidate

Former President John Mahama has chosen Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang as his running mate. By this selection the academic and former Minister of Education under the Mahama-Amissah-Arthur administration joins her boss to slug it out with the incumbents- Akufo-Addo and Mahamudu Bawumia in the December 2020 presidential poll.

This will be the 8th quadrennial election in the Fourth Republic as voters will decide on the candidates above mentioned.Would they re-elect the incumbents or give Mahama-Opoku-Agyeman the political mandate.

On Monday 6, July 2020, Mr. Mahama took to Twitter to announce his choice-- ending several months of suspens and speculation in the media arena.

"The @OfficialNDCGh this afternoon, unanimously endorsed my nomination of Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang as my Running Mate for the December 2020 election. She is God-fearing a distinguished scholar a conscientious public servant & a role model," he wrote.

It's believed he made that decision against more conventional choices and on a short list that included Dr. Kwabena Duffour (fmr. Governor Bank of Ghana) and Awuah Darko an energy expert.

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang becomes the first woman to run as vice presidential candidate on a major political party's ticket. But certainly, she's not the first in the fourth republican democratic dispensation.

In 1992, Kwabena Darko's National Independent Party (NIP) chose Prof. Naa Afarley Sackeyfio as the party's running mate. In fact, in the last 28 years, more than seven women had run as vice presidential nominees for some minor political parties.The most recent, was Paa Kwesi Nduom's PPP nominee-- Brigitte Dzobgenuku in 2016. The paradox is, none of these women candidates made any significant impact.

So, why did Prez Mahama
pick her and can she deliver?
I put the question to one political observer based in Accra, hours after the announcement swept the airwaves.

"For the choice, my guess is possibly Mahama is looking beyond 2020. And two, picking someone who wouldn’t challenge him for 2024," he told me.

And what's my view?
I think Mr. Mahama wanted someone who will appeal to women voters, as well as play the gender card to reinforce his image as champion of gender equality.

She's got it! The first female fmr. Vice-Chancellor of University of Cape Coast has beaten more than six powerful men to it. Now the pitch it's about what the candidate will bring to the table. But, is she the real deal to change the fortunes for the NDC after the Umbrella's humiliating defeat in 2016?

Here's the observer again: According to him the choice isn't a great one. And he doesn't think the nominee has what it takes to rally the party's base.

"Women aren’t going to vote for her. In addition, she doesn’t have any solid track record as former education minister. Remember, it was under her term as the education minister when teacher promotion arrears were canceled as well as the teachers trainee allowances," he said.

But more importantly, she can't perform and rally the party base. She was hardly in the news during her tenure as minister...and for educational matters, it was always Ablakwa. "

He continued: "I've the feeling that Mahama and the NDC had run out of viable options and they couldn't postpone the veep selection any longer after Nana was confirmed and Bawumia announced as the running mate."

Who's this powerful woman?
Born on 22 November 1951 in Cape Coast, Ghana, Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang attended Anglican Girls’ Secondary School at Koforidua and Aburi Presby Girls’ School.

She then had her secondary education at the Wesley Girls High School in Cape Coast from 1964 to 1971.

She completed B.Ed.(Hons) in English and French at the University of Cape Coast in 1977 and obtained her Masters and Doctorate degrees from York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1980 and 1986 respectively.

Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang taught and worked at the University of Cape Coast, starting in 1986.

She has held various academic positions including Head of the Department of English, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Warden of Adehye Hall, Valco Trust Fund Post-Graduate Hostel, and Dean of School of Graduate Studies and Research.

From 1997, she has held the position of Academic Director of the School for International Training in the History and Cultures of the African Diaspora.

From 2008-2012 she was the University’s Vice-Chancellor.

In March, 2007, she was one of five scholars selected to deliver presentations during the 200th Anniversary of the Abolition of Slavery at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.

In October 2009, she was elected Ghana’s representative to the Executive Board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

Between February 2013 and January 2017 she served as the Education Minister of Ghana.

On 26 October 2018, she became the Chancellor of the Women’s University in Africa located in Zimbabwe.

She has served on many local and international boards and committees such as the Centre for Democratic Governance, (CDD-Ghana), the Editorial Board of The Harriet Tubman Series on the African Diaspora (Africa World Press Inc. USA), the Africa Initiative in Canada,and the College of Physicians and Surgeons as Eminent Citizen.

Prof. Jane is a former Minister for Education in Ghana.

She was appointed in 2013 by President John Mahama after the 2012 Ghanaian general election and served until January 2017 when the Nana Akuffo-Addo administration was elected to power.

Opoku-Agyemang has been honoured with honorary degrees from the University of West Indies and Winston-Salem University.

She has also received an award for Global leadership from the University of South Florida in Tampa.

The nominee has also received the Officer of the Order of the Volta award for Academic Distinction and Ghana Women of Excellence Award in the Education category.

She has been acknowledged for Outstanding Performance in Advancing International Education, School for International Training, Vermont, USA on two

Acceptance speech
In her acceptance speech the vice presidential candidate said this: “It's with deep honour and a high sense of gratitude that I convey my acceptance of the nomination by H.E. John Dramani Mahama, Flagbearer and Leader of the great National Democratic Congress (NDC) to be his Running Mate for the December 7, 2020 election”.

According to her she was overwhelmed by the support : ”I am humbled by the overwhelming endorsement my nomination has received from the Founder of the NDC, Flt.-Lt (Rtd) H.E. Jerry John Rawlings, the Council of Elders, the National Executive Committee and the rank and file of our party, as well as the general public."

She stated: "This historic nomination is not a personal achievement but victory for inclusive and participatory democracy, which enhances the credentials of our country and recognizes the towering role women have played over the ages to achieve the progress we have made. I wish to salute all those who have come before me and pledge to draw deeply from their inspiration”.

Meanwhile, the ruling NPP has taken a swipe at Mahama’s choice of vice presidential candidate, saying the selection smacks a 'blatant disregard for the electorates'.

Yaw Buaben Asamoa Communications Director of the party, while congratulating Prof. Opku-Agyemang said her performance as a former education minister is proof that she is not the best person for the job.

“We can only conclude that the choice of Prof Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman by John Dramani Mahama is a clear indication that he does not take the Ghanaian electorate seriously," he theorised.

He also ridiculed the two candidates::"..Our own Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has famously said, it does not matter who the running mate is, if the main man himself is indecisive and incompetent, we still have a problem. It's our view that after having looked so long and wide, the NDC still has a problem,” Asamoa concluded.

By Gordon Offin-Amaniampong