TEIN Advocates Massive Endorsement For Mahama

The Greater Accra Regional branch of the Tertiary Education Institutions Network (TEIN), the student’s wing of the National Democratic Congress, is calling on all delegates for the party’s congress in Kumasi  to give a massive endorsement to President John Dramani Mahama as the party’s flag bearer for the December elections.

“Mr President, TEIN wants you to know that we will support all your endeavours anywhere, any time,” Mr George Dadzie Junior, the Interim President of the network said at a press conference in Accra yesterday.

The NDC will on August 30 go to congress to acclaim President Mahama as the party’s flag bearer following the sudden demise of President J.E.A Mills who was the party’s flag bearer for the elections.

With about three months to the elections, the NDC’s National Executive Committee endorsed President Mahama for the position pending acclamation by the congress, the highest decision making body of the party.

Flanked by Mr Bilal M. Sulemana, President of TEIN Islamic University and Mr David K. Addo of the City Campus of the University of Ghana, Mr Dadzie said there was no doubt that after the death of President Mills, there was the need for someone with vast experience, maturity and competence to fit into the space created and President Mahama fitted the bill.

He said it was heartwarming that the 1992 Constitution mandated President Mahama to fill the vacuum, a job he had so far handled well.

Mr Dadzie, who also the President of TEIN, Methodist University said President Mahama’s vast experience as a Member of Parliament, Minister of Communication, Minority Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs, Chairman of the Armed Forces Council and as Vice-President, made him stand tall among all the qualified people in the party.

“We want to use this opportunity to call on NDC members to unite under the umbrella in honour of the late President and support the party in all its endeavours”.

Mr Martin Amidu, a former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice last week accused the party of imposing President Mahama on them, describing the party’s decision not to open nominations as unconstitutional and leaving party members with no choice to choose from.

But Mr Sulemana noted that the party did not have the luxury of time to open up nominations but nevertheless, the NEC followed due process in putting up President Mahama for the position.

The creation of new constituencies have attracted a lot of criticism, especially from  some civil society organisations and the opposition New Patriotic Party(NPP) with former President J.A Kufuor  being the latest to have pulled the seams out of the Electoral Commission decision.

The former President had described the move by the EC as unreasonable and appealed to it (the Commission) to desist from creating the new constituencies to ensure peace and unity.

But the TEIN members disagreed, saying the EC decision would rather help push development in the country’s rural areas.

“As a party, we are for development. If you go to the remotest areas in this country, we all know the challenges there concerning infrastructure,” Mr Sulemana said.

He said it was regrettable that former President Kufuor was opposing the EC decision as he was the same person whose administration supported the creation of 30 constituencies for the 2008 elections.

“It is the same EC and the same Parliament that endorsed the creation of those constituencies, why is the NPP lamenting today.