FORMER FIRST LADY HAS A MESSAGE FOR GHANAIANS – ‘DEAL ME IN!’

May 2, 2016 (GIN) – Those ringing words– ‘Deal Me In!” – that thrilled fans of presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton in the U.S. could be sending a similar message of hope and change to voters here in Ghana.
Although Africa has done better promoting women to the presidency, few Ghanaians were expecting to see the wife of former President Jerry Rawlings toss her hat into the ring.
Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings was tapped this past Saturday by Ghana’s opposition National Democratic Party (NDC) as its presidential candidate. The selection was made at the party’s national delegates congress in the capital, Accra.
Supporters of the opposition NDC say the former first lady’s popularity could put a serious dent in the momentum now enjoyed by incumbent President John Dramani Mahama in the run-up to the November 7 general election.
“The entire country is clamoring for her return onto the political landscape,” said NDP general secretary Mohammed Frimpong. “The NDP followers throughout the country unanimously endorse her as our presidential candidate for the 2016 election,” he said.
With voting only months away, attacks on the current administration have become acrimonious. Dr. Richard Amoaka Baah, lecturer at Kwame Nkrumah University, urged Ghanaians to vote out “Alibaba and the 40 thieves.” He blamed widespread corruption “coupled with incompetence, mismanagement and lack of vision for increasing the rate of unemployment, economic hardship and the collapse of local businesses.”
Out on the stump, incumbent President Mahama painted an upbeat picture of the nation, as on a sound footing and respected by the World Bank. Speaking at a May Day rally, the President assured the crowd of union workers that more jobs were in the pipeline, including for the youth. Wild cheers greeted his promise not to privatize the Electricity Company of Ghana.
However few posts on the news site GhanaWeb were positive for the president. A typical one read “Building castle in the air… get serious for once man”.
Mrs. Agyeman-Rawlings is not a novice to politics. After her husband became head of state, she became president of the 31st December Women’s Movement and was elected first vice chairperson of her party in 2009.
“My desire is to see the emancipation of women at every level of development,” she said. “Women’s vital role of promoting peace in the country and the world at large must be acknowledged.”w/pix of Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings.

Posted by admin on May 11 2016. Filed under African News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry