Barring any last-minute changes, the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, will name Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman, as his running mate for the upcoming 7 December 2024 presidential and parliamentary election.
Madam Jane Naana Opoku Agyeman, a former Education Minister under the erstwhile John Mahama Administration (7 January 2013 to 7 January 2017), was the running mate of Mr Mahama in his failed attempt to return to the presidency in the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections.
The naming of Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman as running mate to John Mahama will mean that the NDC has decided to stick to the selection of their running mate from the Central Region as has been the case since 2012.
Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman’s projected choice as Mr Mahama’s repeat running mate will be the second of its kind in the history of the NDC under the 4th Republic. Former President Jerry John Rawlings in his two terms as president under the NDC ticket, contested both elections with two different running mates.
Professor John Evans Atta-Mills who contested three different elections (2000, 2004, and 2008), did so with three different running mates (Martin Amidu, Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni, and John Dramani Mahama). Subsequently, Mr Mahama who has also contested in three elections (2012, 2016, 2020) is set to contest his fourth presidential election in Ghana.
In 2012, Mr Mahama, contested with Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur and won. The same pair contested the 2016 elections and lost. In 2020, following the death of Amissah-Arthur in 2018, John Mahama chose for the first time, Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman as his running mate but lost the election.
The choice of a running mate for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) election 2024 ticket was narrowed to three regions by the party in October 2023. The regions were Central, Eastern, and Ashanti.
The preferred candidate from the Central Region was Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyeman. Julius Debrah, a former chief of staff during the erstwhile John Mahama administration (January 2013 – January 2017, was the potential candidate of choice for the NDC ticket. He hails from the Eastern Region and he was said to be tops on the list.
Kwame Awuah-Darko, a Ghanaian politician, entrepreneur, and banker, the 3rd son of the late Nana Awuah-Darko Ampem I, who reigned as the Nkosuohene of Asante Juaben traditional area in the Ashanti Region. He was the potential vice-presidential candidate for the NDC from the Ashanti Region.
It is a widely-held view within the rank and file of the NDC that the choice of Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman as running mate to John Dramani Mahama in 2020, failed to deliver victory for the NDC in the Central Region and the nation at large.
To this end, many faithful of the NDC believe that repeating her as the party’s running mate will add very little to the party’s ticket and may not yield any political benefits to the fortune of the NDC in the December 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections.
