?I took you to HIPC and I brought you out? I took you to the World Cup and now I am giving you free education,? this, shall we humbly submit, sums up ?Oseadeeyo? Yaw Osafo-Maafo, former Minister of Finance and Economic Planning and currently Minister for Education and Sports. Simply put, he is an achiever, even if his proclivity is to self-blow it aloud. Based on this impressive record and a rumoured war chest of generous bundles of crisp Ephraim Amus, the man once voted best Finance Minister of the world, is plotting his way to the Castle and in a most patent, out-and-out and relentless way.
Impressive track record
Beyond his own impressive track record of achievement, he is banking on a growing albeit unhealthy perception that the next President must come form the Eastern Region and if not, the Central Region.
But, other Easterners challenging the bid of the Member of Parliament of Akyem Oda are known heavy weights from the Danquah-Busia tradition. One such awesomely rounded gentleman is Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, MP for New Juaben North, a Koftown boy with Ashanti roots.
Perhaps going by his threatened but short-lived intent to run in 1996, some observers have written the self-made Koforidua MP off too prematurely as not a front-runner for the NPP presidential nominations. But, that is most odd. If the UP tradition of joining the queue is based purely on loyalty and hard-earned and proven merit, then the Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing is certainly in the top league. He could be counted as among the top three candidates in that order.
His unprecedented successful efforts in the history of this country since the First Republic to breath life into the ruling party?s basic concept of property-owning democracy is a marked testament of his principle-based approach to life. Mr Owusu-Agyemang has the style, the stability, the confidence, the political intelligence, the modesty, the political stature and the money to upset those who are currently making the most noise. He is counting on the hope that those cacophonous contenders of the nouveau riche class cannot objectively count on any solid commitment from party delegates who have toiled over the years and remember those who toiled with them.
Mr Owusu-Agyemang may not have launched his campaign networking (unofficially) early but there?s no doubt about his intent even though for a worldly man like him, to win is not a life and death situation.
He is facing very tough competition. Still, he has a lot going for him when you consider the man?s excellent track record and popularity in the New Patriotic Party; not to mention his current ground work rate since he let lose his campaign evangelists on party delegates.
So far, the devoted Catholic?s small but incisive campaign team has covered all but about twenty constituencies across the country. Their formula is not to hold big gatherings, though. And the response has been ?more than encouraging,? says a close observer. In fact our own independent checks show that he is one of the most trusted aspirants. The rank and file members feel they know him and he understands them in return.
This may stem from the fact that he has been there in the trenches right from the onset. As Assistant General-Secretary of the National Union of Ghana Students in 1963, Mr Owusu-Agyemang was one of the youngest victims of Nkrumah?s Preventive Detention Act, even if it was for seven hours.
Source: GhanaWeb
