Presidency: 'Annan Ghana's best bet'

Former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, is Ghana's best option for president, financial analyst Sydney Casely-Hayford has said.

"I have a person who I think will really be the better person to run this country if everything should be …done properly and I think that if Kofi Annan should feel that he can become a candidate, despite his age, I think this country will vote him in," Mr Casely-Hayford told Richard Sky on Citi FM's news analysis programme 'The Big Issue' on Saturday.

Mr Casely-Hayford also said President John Mahama is not deserving of a second term in office.

"If it comes to administration, technically speaking, developing this country further and going on, from what I have seen of what John Mahama has done in these last few years, I don’t think that he is the right person to go forward for the next elections," he said.

"In fact, I would be glad to see that John Mahama does not win because I don’t think this country will develop any better with Mahama in place for another four years," Mr Casely-Hayford added.

President Mahama was recently given a 95% endorsement by the governing National Democratic Congress at its presidential and parliamentary primaries.

He has been given a December 31 ultimatum by the leadership of the NDC to choose his running mate. Various groups within the NDC are vouching for their preferred candidates. Foreign Affairs Minister Hanna Tetteh, Speaker of Parliament Doe Adjaho, CEO of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre Mawuena Trebarh, and Trade Minister Ekwow Spio Garbrah are some of the names being speculated as potential replacements for Vice-President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, whom some groups in the party have described as incompetent.

In Mr Casely-Hayford’s view, however, another four years with Mr Mahama at the helm of affairs will bode ill consequences for Ghana. He, however, said his wish that President Mahama loses the 2016 elections does not mean he supports opposition flagbearer Nana Akufo-Addo to win the polls.

"By saying that I wish John Mahama doesn’t win doesn’t mean I endorse the opposition candidate." In his estimation, Mr Annan is Ghana’s best bet for the presidency.