Running mate is like Paul to Jesus

The Deputy Minority Leader and MP for Lawra-Nandom, Ambrose Dery, has stated that it is not up to the running mate to bring votes but that the job of the running mate is to be an effective advocate for the flagbearer, which can then bring more votes.

He described the 2012 Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Akufo-Addo, as a formidable politician who has what it takes to win and win big. But, like what Paul the Apostle did in marketing the Christian message of Jesus Christ, the job of the running mate should be seen in that light.

Fortunately, he said, “my Senior,” Nana Addo, “has what it takes” to make his brand easy to market.

“Nana has all the qualities to win the election and provide the kind of leadership we all want to see in this country; he has overwhelming qualities and I can’t bring any quality to bear on him, just as Paul could not contribute to the qualities of Jesus Christ. Paul’s desire was to win more souls for Christ and so made himself an advocate of Christ. That is exactly what I can do for Nana,” Mr Dery, a devout Catholic, stressed.

In an interview with the New Statesman, he described Nana Addo as “a very distinguished lawyer, human rights activist and politician, endowed with the requisite qualities and experience” needed to provide competent, visionary leadership required of a president.

Mr Dery is among the frontrunners being considered for selection as Nana Akufo-Addo’s running mate. Though the only Christian in the speculative list of four, his support base is said to spread beyond his home base, stretching through the Zongos, especially the northern parts of the Brong Ahafo Region.

Among his main strengths are: his years of loyalty to the flagbearer and the overwhelming support he enjoys from the Minority in Parliament.

It is recalled that another legislator being considered in 2008 had the unfortunate experience of having her own caucus members campaigning against her.

Not Ambrose, as he is affectionately called. The man who rose in his first time in the chamber to become Deputy Minority Leader is seen by the influential group of NPP MPs as having what it takes to campaign energetically for Nana Addo and the competence to serve him loyally and efficiently.

Indeed, it was Nana Addo who proposed his name for a leadership position in 2009 when he first entered Parliament after causing an upset against NDC heavyweight, Ben Kunbuor.

Mr Dery had worked quietly and tirelessly for Nana Addo in the heated battle of 2007 for the NPP flagbearership. Again in 2010, he was instrumental in getting majority of the MPs to throw their weight behind Nana Addo for the primary which saw the former Foreign Minister commanding nearly 80% of the 107,000 popular votes of party delegates.

He has also dismissed any suggestion that he must lobby for the job. He said, as important as the job is, it is a personal decision for the leader in terms of the nomination, which he must bring to the National Council of the party.

Mr Derry hails from the second biggest ethnic group from the North. A Dagarti from Upper West, his popularity stretches across the North, as he practiced law in the Upper East and served as Regional Minister in the Upper West.

In the view of Mr Dery, the issue of who gets to partner Nana Addo does not matter so much to him, stressing: “Nana has the prerogative to decide through consultation with the party leadership. What is most important is all of us ensuring absolute unity and working together to kick out the incompetent NDC administration. I will respect any decision Nana will make and remain loyal and committed to him at all times.”

Who is Ambrose Dery?

Mr Ambrose Dery, a devout Catholic, was born in 1956. He entered the University of Ghana in 1977 after completing Navrongo Secondary School. He graduated with an LL.B and a BL and was called to the Bar in 1982. Though a native of the Upper West Region, Ambrose spent most of his life in the Upper East Region, where he schooled, built his career and business, and made his home.

He is a seasoned politician, who was able to wrestle the Lawra-Nandom parliamentary seat from no less a person than Dr Benjamin Kumbuor, the current Minister of the Interior.

Ambrose served in two ministerial positions before he entered Parliament in 2008. He was the Regional Minister for the Upper West Region from 2004 – 2006 and Minister of State in the Ministry of Justice from 2006 – 2009. Ambrose Dery has risen even higher as a Parliamentarian, holding the position of Deputy Minority Leader in Parliament and is member of the African Union Parliament in South Africa.

As a successful legal practitioner, he co-founded the most successful legal chambers in Bolgatanga with the late Laary Bimi, and went on to establish another successful chamber in Accra.

As Regional Minister, Ambrose transformed the Upper West Regional capital. Residents of Wa remember his tenure with great nostalgia. His commitment to poverty alleviation saw him serving for ten years (1993 – 2003) as the Chairman of the Water Aid Partner Round Table, an association of local NGOs funded by Water Aid. He is fluent in four Ghanaian languages, Dagaare, Gurune (frafra), Hausa and Twi.

Mr Dery sees political office as a privileged opportunity to serve people “the people who have given you the mandate to be where you find yourself.”

”Providing servant leadership should always be our watch word as politicians and by so doing you will be recognized accordingly, just as I was humbled when my colleagues accorded me the enviable privilege to serve them as a deputy minority leader even as a new comer in parliament,” he told the New Statesman yesterday.

As a result of his people-centred approach to politics, he remains the only MP from the Upper West region, with a functional office where his constituents can channel their concerns for the necessary redress. His constituents hold him in high esteem for what they see as his exceptional commitment to social intervention programmes, particularly targeted at the poor and vulnerable.

For some of his constituents, the provision of ambulances for the both the Nandom and Lawra hospitals are among the things they will forever remember about him.