But for the intervention of some senior members, the history of Johson Asiedu Nketiah in the National Democratic Congress and Ghana’s politics would have been different today.
Speaking in an interview with Captain Smart on Onua TV, the current national chairman of Ghana’s biggest opposition party said he was persuaded to abandon his plans of relocating to Canada to continue his banking career after completing three parliamentary terms; 1992, 1996 and 2000.
“After completing 12 years [in parliament] I said ok, I have served the party for 12 good years nobody was able to defeat me but I am not going to parliament anymore, I am moving to abroad to further my education; acquire a PhD and others and go back to my business root.
"So I had already made my wife take the lead to Canada, I was here with the children making arrangements to join her with the knowledge that I am done with parliament,” he said.
According to him, some key members of the NDC including now former president John Dramani Mahama, current Speaker of Parliament Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, former Speaker Edward Joe Adjaho, Collins Dauda and Enoch Teye Mensah who were his colleagues in parliament were instrumental in getting him to abandon his plans.
“But at the same time, my colleagues including President Mahama, Bagbin who is the current speaker, Speaker Adjaho, ET Mensah, Collins Dauda, and a number of them totalling about 10, came to force me to not go, considering the disunity in the party,” he said.
Coming at a time when the party was disunited ahead of a general election, Asiedu Nketiah said his colleagues led a campaign that saw him elected as the third general secretary in the history of the NDC during a party congress in December 2005.
“It was at the time where Rawlings and Dr Obed Asamoah were in a fight and engaging in heated exchanges, so they needed a unifier to be the general secretary and they saw me as the viable person who can unite the party towards victory so they will not sign off on my travel.
"I told them my wife had already taken the lead but they said she can stay there, you are going to be the general secretary. I told them I don’t have money to fund my campaign and they said they will campaign for me. After the back and forth, I eventually had to abandon that plan,” he stated.
After serving as general secretary of the NDC for 18 years and becoming Ghana’s longest political party general secretary, Asiedu Nketiah was elected national chairman of the party in December 2022 by securing a landslide victory over the then incumbent, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo.
GA/SARA
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