The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Bernard Antwi Bosiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi or Governor, has said the NPP will “force” the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to present former President John Mahama as presidential candidate for 2020 because he is the easiest candidate for the NPP to beat.
According to him, the former president has corruption tags around his neck and it would be easy for the NPP to campaign against him in the 2020 election.
He said even if the NDC settles on another candidate, “the value will be the same.”
Chairman Wontumi, exclusively told broadcaster Nana Aba Anamoah, host of ‘State of Affairs’ on GHOne TV, said anytime he heard the NDC talk about bringing ex-President Mahama, he felt happy.
“Whenever I hear former President John Dramani Mahama as coming for 2020, then I’m happy. I pray every day that the NDC brings former President Mahama. I can challenge the former President because he became present by default. Even at the Supreme Court, they said in 2012 there was ballot stuffing. So, we are going to force the NDC to bring former President Mahama,” he stated.
He added that, “when political power changed hands to the NPP in 2000, there was run-off, the 2008 elections had run-off, but, in 2016 when the NDC was exiting there was no run-off and the margin of votes was sound for NPP.
He stated further that, “former President Mahama is our (NPP) wife. If you look at the vote difference, and statistics and there way it went, we want President Mahama to contest in 2020.”
I want 2020 now
The NPP chair, who became the first person to retain the seat after his first term, said, “I have appetite in the Ashanti Region for 2020 elections. I’m angry and hungry for 2020. I want 2020 to even happen today. I want people to vote for NPP and Ashanti’s will vote for NPP again.”
“Prior to the last election, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was not the President, but since becoming the President, Nana Akufo-Addo has brought free Senior High School (SHS), restored nurses allowance and teachers training allowance. As for me I compare him to Gordon Guggisberg,” the regional chairman added.
Asked if President Akufo-Addo had done better than Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president, he said Dr Nkrumah, unlike Nana Akufo-Addo, came to meet money, while President Akufo-Addo came to meet debts.
Agenda two million votes
He told the broadcaster that the NPP would improve on its 2016 votes of 1.2 million and is now targeting two million votes in the Ashanti Region.
According to him, since 1992 when democratic rule stated in Ghana, “four people have been elected to lead Ashanti Region NPP and I am the fourth one and the only one who retained the seat as a regional chairman.
“Nobody had ever retained the seat for a second term like me or nobody had had eight years, but I have broken that jinx. It was God,” he stated.
Job creation
On job creation, he said “the Holy Bible even said ‘the hand that does not work must not eat’, so everybody ought to work. I had a licence and my small scale mining was decent. I am like you and if you are popular people have a way of talking about you.
“I will appeal to the government that though it had done well, especially with free SHS, mining is also somebody’s work so those engaging in small scale mining who are recognised by the Mineral’s Commission, we should assist them, but those in galamsey we have to stop them from destroying our water bodies.”
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