body-container-line-1

NPP Edmonton-Canada: A Tribute to Alhaji Aliu Mahama

By NPP Edmonton
NPP Edmonton-Canada: A Tribute to Alhaji Aliu Mahama
20.11.2012 LISTEN

From humble beginnings in his native Yendi, the young Aliu Mahama rose to the second highest office in Ghana.

Education is that which levels the playing field for all. The young Aliu benefitted from the policy of free education that was promulgated by the Nkrumah government. But for this free education the young Aliu received, I would have been writing about a “could have been” and not a “had been".

The late Alhaji Aliu Mahama's credentials as a champion of the Danquah-Busia-Dombo tradition is made even more admirable by some observations about the life he so richly lived.

The late Alhaji Imoru Egala, a pillar of the Nkrumaist/Limann political tradition, was the father-in-law of Alhaji Aliu Mahama. This shows a man who could relate closely with all shades of political opinion yet remain resolute in their core political beliefs, has an open mind, and is comfortable in his skin.

Alhaji Mahama lived the dream of the Danquah-Busia-Dombo tradition by successfully establishing his own Civil Engineering and Construction Firm, LIDRA Limited, in 1982, at the relatively young age of 36. Through this successful LIDRA enterprise, Alhaji Mahama provided sustenance and employment to many. Again through LIDRA, he became a self-made man. In this, he joined the fold of most of the leaders of the Danquah-Busia-Dombo tradition who at the dawn of the NPP administration in 2001 were self-made men. These self-made men referred to here, unlike their counterparts in some other political parties, did not owe their success to unbridled loyalty to so-called revolutions and government hand-outs. These self-made individuals owed their success to their God, their families, their professional and entrepreneurial competence, as well as in their belief in the Danquah-Busia-Dombo view that the Ghanaian, could rise to greater heights and attain whatever property they may desire given the necessary freedoms and an enabling environment. It is note-worthy that Alhaji Aliu Mahama had himself stressed this point about the NPPs self-made men while on the campaign trail in the late 1990s.

Alhaji Aliu Mahama appreciated his humble beginnings from Northern Ghana. He sought to give back to Northern Ghana, and Ghana as a whole.

Accordingly he was Councilor, Yendi District Council in 1978 and Assemblyman, Tamale Municipal Assembly in 1990. He was the Chairman of the Economic Development Committee of the Tamale-Louisville Sister State Committee. He has been a board member of several Secondary Schools in the Northern Region including the Tamale Polytechnic.

After leaving office as Vice President, he strived to complement the efforts of others in promoting peace and unity in the North, particularly in Dagbon.

Given the keen sense Alhaji Mahama had for the underprivileged and his desire to make his country a better place for all regardless of position of birth, it is no wonder that he served as Vice President in the Kufuor-government that instituted the most far reaching of social interventions since President Nkrumah.

A most admirable trait was in the selflessness exhibited by Alhaji Aliu Mahama in campaigning tirelessly for the Akufo-Addo – Bawumia ticket. A less than honourable person would have shied away from campaigning after having lost a bid for the NPP flagbearership to Nana Akufo-Addo in 2008. Not Alhaji Mahama. Evidently, he believed that the good times of the Kufuor-Mahama era must roll on; that the gravy train of the NPP stopped too soon in 2008 and must be re-ignited; that the social interventions of the NPP in the 8 years he served as Vice President must be made to achieve their objectives to the satisfaction of the average Ghanaian; that the FREE SHS must see the light of day come 2013.

Alhaji Aliu Mahama literally died on the battlefield fighting for what he believed in, an Akufo-Addo – Bawumia administration in 2013. Aliu died campaigning for a government that would appreciate and implement big and bold initiatives such as exhibited by the government he served in as Vice President that introduced NHIS, NYEP, LEAP, Metro mass transit, Free maternal health care, Capitation Grant, School Feeding Program, etc. Certainly not a government that besides not dreaming big finds it difficult to even appreciate that the decision of where a statesman is buried does not lie with the government but with the family.

The most fitting tribute to the late Alhaji Aliu Mahama, the most fitting consolation to give his widow, children and family would be to fulfill his dream of seeing the party for which he toiled and died voted once again into power on December 7, 2012.

Alhaji, May the Good Lord grant you perfect rest.
Gilbert Adu Gyimah, CPA (US)
[email protected]
Member, Executive Committee
NPP-Alberta, Canada

body-container-line