A youth group, which calls itself “Youth For Ato (YFA), is pushing the Finance Minister, Dr. Caissel Ato For son, to come out and contest the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearership.
The YFA, in their bid to push the Minister, has secretly put out a tag with the inscription of Dr Ato Forson to compel him to make up his mind to contest when the party opens nominations in the year 2027.
A few days after the NDC put out plans and outlines for its party’s internal election, there is pressure on some individuals to contest various positions in the party.
Even though the reorganisation and the roadmap announcement by the General Secretary, Franklyn Fiifi Kwetey for the internal elections did not include an election to elect who succeeds the President, John Dramani Mahama, some youth are pressuring some individuals they believe could succeed President Mahama to come out.
Per the roadmap, the National Democratic Congress has slated December 19, 2026, for its national executive elections.
The directive also prevailed on government appointees intending to contest for positions in the party to resign at least six clear months ahead of the election, which is “pursuant to Article 54 of the party’s Constitution”.
The provision above states that “Any person seeking to contest for a party position who currently holds an office to which he or she was appointed by the President or government must resign from that office at least six (6) clear months before filing nomination forms. The affected offices under paragraph (1) include, but are not limited to, ministers and deputy ministers, chief executive officers, managing directors, their deputies, or analogous officers, and metropolitan, municipal, and district chief executives. ”.
The restrictions also mean all those intending to contest at the national level are to resign by June this year to be eligible to contest in the election, while those intending to contest at the regional level are expected to resign by May this year, as the regional elections are slated for November 14-15.
The constituency-level elections would be held on Saturday, October 24-25, which implies that those contesting at the constituency level are expected to resign by April this year, while the branch-level elections would be held on May 30 this year.
From the above, the party is likely to choose a successor to the throne of the presidency in the year 2027, and this means that those who may be willing to contest the flagbearership must begin by now, as the local-level elections are taking place.
One such person is the Finance Minister and Member of Parliament for the Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam Constituency in the Central Region, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson.
The tag for the YFA design which has popped up in the social media comes with the beautiful picture of the Finance Minister and “Youth For Ato – 2028 Presidential Hopeful” beneath it.
The group, according to our source, has begun distributing these to party faithful, commercial drivers and NDC party sympathisers across the country. The source said the drivers and the party faithful are embracing the idea.
Another high-profile person to hint at this bid after the group released the design of Dr Forson is the Minority Leader in Parliament and Member of Parliament for the Effutu Constituency in the Central Region, Alexander Afenyo-Markin.
Mr Afenyo-Markin, in a recent press conference, hinted that he was aware and had seen on social media designs that depict that the Finance Minister will be seeking to replace his boss, President Mahama.
The YFA believe that with how Dr Forson has helped his government manage the economy, he would be in a better place to assume the office of the highest office in Ghana come the December 2028 election; hence, their decision to force him to contest the primary when the nominations are opened for such.
