Mahama pushes Alan

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Created on Tuesday, 29 January 2013 00:00

Mahama pushes Alan

28 Jan 2013

The ambition of John Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen to head the World Trade Organisation (WTO) received a major boost at the weekend when President John Dramani Mahama asked his colleague heads of state from the African Union to support his candidature.

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This was when he addressed the 20th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

Whilst appreciating the support of his colleagues for the candidature of his compatriot for the position of Director General of WTO, President Mahama noted “I look forward to your continued support as he begins to go through the processes of selection associated with this strategic position.”

‘Alan Cash,’ as he was popularly called in the campaign for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) race in 2007, was the closest contender to Nana Akufo-Addo for the NPP leadership.

He is still tipped as a frontrunner in the next NPP race.

Recently, unidentified persons posted an avalanche of ‘Alan for president’ posters at strategic regions throughout the country.

The covert operation was highly condemned by leading members of the NPP close to Alan as they saw it as attempts to break the party’s front in the ongoing election petition at the Supreme Court.

Making a case for Alan, Mahama indicated that “fifty years after the formation of the OAU/AU, Africa is more than ready to lead this crucial world body through the much-needed process of reform that will enhance Africa’s prospects as an equal partner in the world trade system.”

Government’s decision to support Mr Kyeremanten was first announced in January, 2012 by the late President John Evans Atta Mills during the African Union (AU) summit in Addis Ababa.

Mr Kyerematen, who also enjoyed enormous backing from President Mahama when he assumed office, was subsequently nominated for the WTO job by the AU at a meeting in Addis Ababa in July 2012.

There are nine candidates in the race for the WTO director generalship that becomes vacant on August 31 when Pascal Lamy steps down.

Costa Rica’s Foreign Trade Minister Anabel Gonzalez, Mexican Economy Minister Hermino Blanco Mendoza, New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser and Indonesian Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Mari Elka Pangestu are some of the front runners in the race.

Commendation

Meanwhile, The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Obuasi East, Edward Enin, has commended President Mahama for openly endorsing Mr. Kyerematen’s bid to become the next Director- General of WTO.

Speaking to Citi News, Mr Enin, who is a close ally to Mr. Kyerematen, described President Mahama’s move as a sign of patriotism.

“I believe what the President has done is in the right direction, the reason being that Mr. Alan Kyerematen is a Ghanaian, he is a citizen of this country and so if there is a position like that and he is contesting, he needs the support of all Ghanaians including the President.”

He said Ghana stood the chance of benefiting if Mr. Kyerematen succeeded in his bid to occupy the highest office of Director-General for the WTO.

Mr Ennin however cautioned the NDC against any move to make political capital of the President’s endorsement: “This thing is not new because it happened during President Kufuor’s time when Dr Ibn Chambers was also contesting an ECOWAS position, so this is not history, it has happened before and nobody should try to gain political capital with it.”

Hope For Continent

President Mahama took the opportunity to challenge his colleague African leaders to use the 50h anniversary celebration of the Union to live up to the expectations of their citizens, insisting that “with Africa’s vast human and material resources as well as unprecedented access to technology, there is no reason why we cannot succeed if only we could muster the political will and seize the moment.”

In spite of whatever successes or struggles that the continent may have gone through over the decade, he said “there is still much to be thankful as well as hopeful for.”

That, he said, was because “we cannot remain entrapped in the grim episodes of our past…nor must we allow our future to be overshadowed by the dire situations that persist in places such as Somalia, Eastern DRC and lately Mali, among others.

“If we can recapture as a people the same spirit of selflessness and patriotism that brought us out of colonial domination, I have no doubt that the dreams that inspired the heroic pioneers of independence and development will surely materialize in a generation,” he emphasized.

He was optimistic Africa, as a continent, was making progress since “some of the fastest growing economies in the world are in Africa.”

Apart from that, he indicated that most African countries nowadays go through regular democratic elections for selection of leaders thereby relegating the era of military juntas and unconstitutional governments to the background.

In view of this, President Mahama said “we are making steady progress in meeting the millennium development goals” whilst “women are making progress in taking their place as partners rather than subordinates in the scheme of things.”

By Charles Takyi-Boadu

Source: Daily Guide/Ghana