Former Trade and Industry Minister, Ekwow Spio-Garbrah,
appears to have thrown in the towel as the race for the presidential
candidate of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) for
Election 2020 gathers momentum.
He has said categorically that if
former President John Mahama contests as the flag bearer, he
(Spio-Garbrah) will not join the race, although it is not clear whether
he will be interested in the contest if the ex-president does not come.
Radio InterviewHe
granted an interview to a private radio station – Radio XYZ – in Accra
on Tuesday and was later quoted as making a subtle declaration to
contest in the 2020 presidential election, but he later reacted by
saying it was distorted.
“That’s a premature question for me to
answer… all of us appointed by Mahama have great respect for him. We all
believe we have to grant him that opportunity,” Spio had told the
station, adding, “He has the first right of refusal.”
He
continued, “My view is that all such matters are for the collective…
when the time comes I’ll take that into account. Let’s work together to
fix that car first or the horse that may be lame or whatever allegory
people want to use. Once it is done, the best driver will be decided. At
this state, it is early. Everyone could have leadership potential and I
can’t be excluded.”
Important DistortionMr
Spio-Garbrah later said on the social media platform – Facebook – that
his interview had been distorted by the media; and that he was giving an
indication that he might still be in the contest after all.
“Please
note the slight but important distortion of what I said this morning on
Radio XYZ. I did NOT say I shall run if Mahama doesn’t nor did I
discuss who is the ‘best person’ to lead the NDC.”
He continued,
“I said that all of us Mahama appointees have a great deal of respect
for him and so I believe he should be given (as a former President and
party leader) the right of first refusal whether to run again.
“However,
I noted that he will be contested if he runs. I indicated that there
are many people asking me to run but I have advised them both publicly
and privately that it is best for all of us to concentrate on repairing
the ‘broken NDC car’ or ‘strengthening the lame horse’ (Mahama’s
allegory) before competing over party leadership, hence, my call for us
to await the outcome of the Prof Botchwey Committee’s work.”
He added, “I have no doubt that there will be many distortions of what I said on Radio XYZ, which I have summarized above.”
More NamesApart
from Mr Spio-Garbrah’s name that popped up, there are a host of NDC
stalwarts who are all planning to upstage ex-President Mahama as the
NDC’s flag bearer for 2020 because many claim the former president does
not have what it takes to run for the highest office again after his
humiliating defeat as incumbent leader in the 2016 general election.
They
include Alban Bagbin, former majority leader in parliament who is
currently 2nd deputy dpeaker of the house; former speaker of parliament,
Edward Doe Adjaho and former National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS)
CEO, Sylvester Mensah, who was recently seen meeting NDC members at
Sogakope in the Volta Region.
A retired Rector of the University
of Professional Studies Accra (UPSA), Joshua Alabi, is also reportedly
lacing his boots to declare his intention to stand for the nomination in
possible opposition to ex-President Mahama’s bland popularity arising
out of the Prof. Kwesi Botchwey Commission’s report on how the NDC lost
the December 7, 2016 general election.
They are all said to be
busily setting up offices and criss-crossing the country to shore up
their support base ahead of the crucial NDC congress, likely to be held
next year.
Mahama PuzzleSome political
analysts are of the opinion that should ex-President Mahama succeed in
contesting on the ticket of the NDC again but fail to win the 2020
contest, it would further break the front of the opposition party
because they would then have to struggle to market a candidate for 2024.
Others
also believe that since Mr Mahama was humiliated in the December 7,
2016 poll, there was going to be very little chance for him in 2020 –
especially when there is no incumbency advantage.
Lame HorseThe
former president himself recently called for a careful re-organisation
and assessment of the NDC after the party’s crushing defeat last year,
admitting that the former ruling party was sick as he likened it to a
‘lame horse.’
For him, it is absolutely premature for members of
the NDC to talk about who will lead the party at its present state,
positing, “If you ride a lame horse into a race and you lose the race,
your priority must be to cure the lameness of the horse and not about
who will ride the horse.”
However, critics within the NDC are
saying that the party has never been lame and insisted that it was the
jockey (in reference to the ex-President as NDC candidate) who was
rather lame.
