Akufo-Addo chose Bawumia because of his demonstrable competence, knowledge & experience – Majority Leader

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo selected Dr Mahamudu Bawumia as his vice presidential candidate not because Dr Bawumia is a Muslim or he is from the north, the Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu has said.

Dr Bawumia was chosen because of his competence, knowledge, and experience, Mr Kyei-Mensah-BonsU indicated while touching on the selection of a running mate for the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Dr Bawumia, on the Hot Issue with Kemini Amanor on TV3 Sunday, November 26.

He stressed “Bawumia was chosen not because he was from the north or a Muslim. he was chosen because of his demonstrable competence and knowledge and experience.

Bawumia was chosen not because he was from the north or a Muslim. he was chosen because of his demonstrable competence and knowledge and experience. – Hon Osei-Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Majority Leader. #HotIssues #3NewsGH pic.twitter.com/OPaJ8uNojg

— #3NewsGH (@3NewsGH) November 26, 2023

He notes that there are other Akan-speaking areas in the country apart from the Ashanti Region Dr Bawumia who is from northern Ghana can pick his running mate from.

In his view, it will not cause any harm to the party if the running mate is not selected from the Ashanti Region.

Asked what the possible implications would be should the vice presidential candidate be picked from regions other than the Ashanti while speaking on the Hot Issue on TV3 with Kemmini Amanor, the Suame Member of Parliament said “I am not too sure the world will come to an end.”

He added “…We know the dynamics so let the people decide. I am from the Ashanti Region, it is the case that Dr Bawumia is from the Noth, and maybe his own ethnic background is not one place that we have major votes from or huge numbers from, we will need, maybe, a region that will support or complement him well, that is why people are coming up with that suggestions to select an Akan.

“I am saying that it is justifiable but there are other Akan areas that we could also look at.”

Regarding the choice of the running, a Professor at the Political Science Department of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology,  Samuel Adu Gyamfi, earlier said that the NPP and Dr Mahamudu Bawumia have demonstrated that they were considering someone from the Ashanti Region.

He said he would not be surprised if eventually, the person comes from the Ashanti Region because the region has been loyal to the NPP.

“In the case of the NPP, they have already shown that they are looking at Ashanti Region. It will not be surprising that [Dr Bawumia] will consider someone from the Ashanti Region, the region has supported the NPP and they gave their support to candidate Akufo-Addo. Ashanti Region has contributed massively to the growth of the NPP,” he said on the Ghana Tonight show on TV3 on Thursday, November 23.