There is a whisper campaign, a regional propaganda, suggesting that after the tenure of John Dramani Mahama, the "Northern turn" is over and the mantle must migrate elsewhere.

This is political fiction. It is a narrative born of convenience rather than conviction, an attempt to reduce the presidency to a game of musical chairs.

​The National Democratic Congress (NDC) is a congress, not a carousel. The party does not rotate leadership like a village festival; if it did, the Greater Accra Region, the very heartbeat of the Republic, would have demanded its "turn" decades ago.

To suggest that the highest office in the land is a baton to be passed between geographical coordinates is to insult the intelligence of the Ghanaian voter and to undermine the foundations of meritocracy.

​History remains a stern teacher, and the NDC’s history is written in the ink of excellence rather than the pencil of tribal arithmetic.

Jerry John Rawlings did not choose John Evans Atta Mills to satisfy the Central Region; he chose him because he was a "good man on a bad ticket," a candidate so virtuous that opponents had to invent flaws. The "Asomdweehene" was not a product of coastal zoning; he was a product of moral character and intellectual gravitas.

​Similarly, the party maintained Mahama not for his geography, but for his voter-pulling energy. The geography of a leader's birth is irrelevant if they cannot bridge the geography of the voter's heart.

A leader whose only credential is their birthplace is a leader who begins their journey at a dead end. One must ask: does a candidate carry the weight of the party’s ideals, or merely the dust of their home district?

​The challenge of 2028 demands a candidate who can defend the party's record with surgical precision. The NDC is blessed with a harvest of talent, yet the criteria for leadership must remain cold and objective.

The party cannot afford the luxury of sentimentalism. The ballot box does not recognize "turns"; it only recognizes strength, clarity, and the promise of a better tomorrow.

​The moment requires a leader who possesses the credibility to stand under the glare of scrutiny without wilting. It demands the marketability to reach the undecided middle, the silent majority who vote for bread, not banners, and the intellectual depth to outmanoeuvre an opposition that thrives on obfuscation. A party that prioritizes a compass over a conscience is a party destined to lose its way.

​The attempt to bifurcate the NDC into "Northern" and "Southern" interests is a trap set by those who fear a united front. It is a zero-sum game where the only winner is the adversary.

When a movement allows itself to be defined by borders, it forgets its mission. The NDC was founded as a national vehicle, a broad tent that shelters the farmer in Gambaga and the fisherman in James Town with equal fervor.

​To retreat into regionalism is to shrink the party’s vision. If leadership is demanded based on ancestral roots, the party risks transforming a national movement into a collection of ethnic silos.

The presidency of Ghana is not a local government appointment; it is a sovereign mandate. The nation does not look for a tribal champion; it looks for a national servant.

​The NDC does not need a "Southerner" or a "Northerner" for 2028; it needs a winner. It needs someone who can look the opposition in the eye and command the room. The party requires a leader who understands that the hunger in a belly in Kumasi feels exactly the same as the hunger in a belly in Tamale.

​The party stands at a crossroads where the choice is between the comfort of tradition and the necessity of victory. No one should be blinded by the maps of yesterday. The voter of 2028 will not be looking at the candidate’s hometown; they will be looking at the candidate’s hands to see if they are capable of holding the steering wheel of a nation in crisis.

​The mantle of leadership is not a gift to be inherited; it is a prize to be earned. While the whisperers continue their regional gossip, the NDC must remain focused on the only metric that matters: the capacity to lead, the courage to fight, and the character to win.

In the final analysis, the party's survival depends not on where its leader comes from, but on where they intend to take the country.
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