Julius Debrah: The loyalist who stayed and orchestrated John Mahama's historic comeback

Flashback to January 7, 2017, the John Dramani Mahama government had just handed over to the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government after losing the December 2016 elections. Akufo-Addo finally won the presidency on his third attempt.

The defeat Mahama suffered, which came via a margin of over 900,000 votes, was chastening and unprecedented in the history of Ghanaian politics. Never in the history of the country, at least under the Fourth Republic, had a sitting incumbent been toppled by such a margin of votes.

As confessed by John Dramani Mahama during his testimony at the Assemblies of God Church in Accra on Sunday, December 15, 2024, the days that followed the defeat and handing over were ‘lonely’ periods.

His phone, which used to be inundated with calls, became idle all of a sudden. Friends and businessmen who used to patrol the corridors of power to seek his attention and blessings for contracts stopped coming, and of course, the Christmas hampers, which were ever-present in every festive period during his stay at the Flagstaff House, ceased.

But as the human presence and support dwindled, there were a few loyalists who not only stayed to offer support to their leader, who had suffered a blip in his hitherto unblemished political career, but also set in motion strategies and plans that ultimately culminated in the impressive turnaround of John Mahama’s story from a President who lost elections with the widest margin to the President who won elections by the biggest margin.

One of such rare human beings who remained a true-hearted loyal servant to John Mahama after the events of December 2016 was the former Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah.

As others clocked out of John Mahama's life, Julius Debrah remained clocked in and continued to serve as his right-hand man.

As recounted by Dzifa Gunu, while others were brooding over the crushing defeat of the 2016 elections and engaging in blame games, Julius Debrah had his eyes fixed on the prize – returning John Mahama to the presidency.

He quickly activated ‘Operation Return John Mahama to the Flagstaff House,’ forming a team of committed NDC members with just two jobs – recapturing the narrative on both traditional and social media platforms to sell John Dramani Mahama and make him an attractive commodity to Ghanaians as a better alternative to anyone from the NPP.

From Gunu’s account, Julius Debrah was not an armchair leader; he walked the talk, resourced the team to execute their tasks to perfection, and motivated them to give off their best during the campaign period.

Excerpts of his long narration of events read: “Our first constituency was Awutu Senya East (Kasoa), and at that time I was asked by the key man Julius Debrah to do a live stream of the campaign. I was using my phone. After a few constituencies and we returned to Accra, he gave myself and Aboagye of blessed memory two iPads to use for the streaming. I must use this point to thank all those who supported us with data for the live streaming.

“We were not sure about the acceptability of the man JM, but it turned out that, in fact, he was our best shot at a comeback. We eventually did all the 275 constituencies, and it was evidently clear who we wanted as our leader. The rest is history.

“But my long write-up this morning is to pay tribute to the man Julius Debrah when he began the comeback agenda for JM. I know there are many thousands of foot soldiers who were pivotal in this movement, and we will pay tribute to them all.”

The testimony from Dzifa Gunu is but just one of a plethora of stories that underscore and detail the role of Julius Debrah in the big victory of John Mahama and the NDC in the December 2024 elections, where the party did not just floor the NPP but also swept two-thirds of the seats in the next Parliament.

Brief information about Julius Debrah

Julius Debrah, born April 4, 1966, is a Ghanaian politician and a former Chief of Staff to former President Mahama.

In February 2015, Julius Debrah was appointed Chief of Staff by President John Dramani Mahama to replace Prosper Bani.

Debrah has also previously served as Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Eastern Regional Minister of Ghana, and Greater Accra Regional Minister.

Debrah studied at Mpraeso Secondary School, then moved to Achimota Secondary School for A Levels from 1987 to 1989. Following this, he gained admission to the University of Ghana, where he obtained a BA in Archaeology and Sociology.

Debrah spent 18 years of his working life in the real estate and agriculture sectors. A native of Obomeng Kwahu, Debrah is married with two children.

He was a member of the NDC Campaign Steering Committee for the 2024 election.