A former Member of Parliament for Birim North, Dr. William Boakye Akoto has said that of the about 19 presidential aspirants of the New Patriotic Party, Vice President Aliu Mahama is the most qualified.

"From the list of aspirants vying to win the primaries in the NPP, none combines the requisite leadership qualities for post 2008 Ghana better than the Vice President, His Excellency Alhaji Aliu Mahama.”

The Chronicle newspaper quotes Boakye Akoto in a statement as saying that with the Vice President having acted as the President of the Republic for over one year,(should one collate the number of days that the President, His Excellency John Agyekum Kufuor has spent outside the country since 2001), indeed, no one comes close to the understanding, insight, expertise and experience that the Vice President potentially brings to the job as the President of Ghana.

"The Vice President has enhanced his potential to be a good leader for the nation by receiving the necessary training on the job. Unlike his neophyte challengers, he is better placed to crown the performance of his boss with his own vision for the uninterrupted development of the nation."

In an exclusive statement released to the paper, Dr. Boakye-Akoto, an educationist said, "Throughout the evolution of democracy in many nations, they have repeatedly demonstrated the wisdom in supporting their Vice-Presidents to succeed out-going or retiring Presidents. Ghana needs to study the rationale for this tradition and emulate same."

According to the former legislator, from the historical antecedents of American politics of presidential succession, "we learn that by supporting most of their Vice Presidents to succeed, or attempt to succeed retiring Presidents, Americans have demonstrated, time and time again, the high sense of value they attach to the experience that their Vice Presidents garner on the job while in office."

He stressed that unless there is a compelling reason for a regime change or other mitigating factors, they are unlikely to throw such a tradition out of the window.

Drawing his assertions and inspiration from the American system, the ex-MP noted that this tradition of presidential succession in the United States of America has played a catalytic role in their development.

Credit: The Chronicle