Barely two weeks after the New Patriotic Party went to congress to elect Nana Addo Dankwah Akuffo-Addo as their flagbearer for the 2102 Elections, word about who gets to partner him as running mate have started making rounds. Already, the dynamics of who gets to partner Nana Addo has taken centre stage within the party. Just like previous situations, the thorny but all important issue of which part of the country the right man or woman should come from to qualify for the position, has started playing out. Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe, a leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), who describes himself as partly a body of the Nana Addo campaign believes that the former Deputy Bank of Ghana boss, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, will be the appropriate person to partner Nana Addo. Giving an interesting chronology of the trend in choosing a running mate at any point in time of the party’s history to support his argument, Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe said right from the days of the formation of the Northern Peoples Party, an offshoot of the Danquah Busia-Dombo tradition which Bawumia’s father was part of, through the subsequent division of the party that led to the formation of William Ofori-Atta’s United National Convention (UNC) and Victor Owusu’s Popular Front Party (PFP) up to the Aduboahene, John Kufuor and the Nana Addo 2008 ticket era, legend has always supported the South-North collaboration. “We need someone who shares in the ideals of the party and also blends easily with the flagbearer. Bawumia has shown beyond reasonable doubt that he has more than what it takes to be a running mate. The two have worked together before, compatible and understand each other’s philosophy. This is my personal humble view but I believe many others in the NPP share in it,” he said. He said at this point in time, only a South-North ticket will be best for the party. “I might be wrong but I believe strongly, the right choice for Nana Addo again is Bawunmia. He is the right material for this post. This is a man with no inordinate ambition, hardworking and skillful. Nana Addo knows what he wants but if asked to pick for him, I would go in for Bawunmia. This is someone we’ve marketed before and wouldn’t take a lot of our time this time round, trying to make him look good in the eyes of the electorates. He has a huge support base which contributed to Nana’s 49.77 percent in the last elections. I won’t be surprised at all if those who kicked against him the last time round, will this time, root hard for him. In the last two years, he has warmly worked his way up and this tells in the way the party faithful cheered him on when he came to town the other day for the congress”. He however said the tradition of going in for a Southerner to pair a northerner or vice versa isn’t sacrosanct and bound to change anytime. “If in the near future, those from the other blocks within the party are able to provide a fitting personality who can win the day for us notwithstanding where he or she is coming from, why not, I will give that idea my support. But as things stand now, it is the northern block all the way,” he said. He concluded that what the NPP needs now: “are people who will move this nation forward, people who are ready to squash their personal ambitions and desires for that of the country. The party has its job cut out for us going into 2012. What we need now is hard work, intensive and aggressive campaigning across the country. Victory is staring us in the face. We need to make it happen. MeanwhilePollster Ben Ephson says apart from a requirement by the party that a running mate must have be a card-bearing member for a minimum of five years, "there are other indicators that Nana Akufo-Addo has to take into account in taking a decision." Source: Myjoyonline.com/Ghana