Former Gender, Children and Social Protection Minister, Nana Oye Lithur has announced her decision to stand for the Adentan Parliamentary Constituency seat come 2020.
The human rights lawyer and campaigner in furtherance of her resolve conferred with her past boss and former Ghana president John Dramani Mahama declaring she will be filing her bid as a parliamentary candidate when the NDC opens nominations later in the year.
Below is her statement:
Following consultations with my Mentors, Advisors, Party Executives, Constituents of Adentan and after a lot of self-reflection, I have taken a resolute decision to offer myself as a willing and able candidate for the Adentan Parliamentary Seat on the ticket of the NDC.
Today I paid a curtesy call on His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, Former President of our dear country, and my former boss to officially inform him of my intentions and to solicit his counsel.
In His statement to my team and I, he welcomed my decision and acknowledged the need to elect strong, opinionated candidates who would appeal to the general electorate during the 2020 elections.
“The general elections would involve the entire voting public and not just the NDC delegates, in this regard we as a party need to be strategic in our selection of parliamentary candidates. We must also consider the strength, the character and track record of the aspirants to determine if they can emerge victorious in the general elections.”
He further stated that the overall vision of the NDC, is to recapture power in 2020 and restore hope to millions of Ghanaians. However we cannot deny the uphill task it will be to regain our majority status in Parliament. In this regard it is essential to elect the right candidates who can effectively handle the task of winning back the seats lost during the 2016 elections.
He recounted his initial dialogues with me prior to my appointment as Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection under his administration, and thanked me for my good work and relentless efforts in keeping true to the principles of social democracy.
In concluding the visit, I thanked His Excellency John Dramani Mahama and assured him that, when our Party opens nominations later this year, I will file my bid to become a Parliamentary Candidate and subsequently serve my country as a Member of Parliament for the Adentan Constituency.
God bless the NDC party, God bless our homeland Ghana and make our nation great and strong.