Sylvester Mensah declares intention to be President

The former Chief Executive Officer of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Mr Sylvester Mensah has officially declared his intention to be President of Ghana on the wings of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

According to him, he is considering calls on him to contest the flagbearer position of the NDC ahead of the 2020 elections.

Speaking in a radio interview on Starr FM Wednesday evening, Mr Mensah noted that he is currently doing some consultations regarding the calls and that “if the appeal crystalizes with the general demands and expectations, I will go for it.”

“It is not a yes or no answer. There have been a number of calls on me to consider the high office. I have been involved in a number of consultations.”

A number of names have come up for discussion as potential flagbearers for the NDC in 2020 . They include former President John Dramani Mahama who lost the 2016 presidential elections to Nana Akufo-Addo, Prof Joshua Alabi, a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), Mr Gossie Tanoh, Mr Alban S.K. Bagbin, Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament and Dr Ekow Spio-Garbrah, a former Minister of Trade among others.

Mr Mensah noted however that his current focus was to see the party get back into “good shape”.

When host of the show, Bola Ray asked if he wanted to occupy the flagstaff House one day, he answered:"of course."

But added that his focus for now to help reorganize the party and ensure that the grassroots were firmly organized.

"We have a party that is above all. I guess that the mistake we do as individuals is that we think we can carry the party into power. It is the party which carries one into power. It is too early to talk about that. It’s a long process… there are calls and consultation. I’m considering it.”

Granted he gets the nod to lead the NDC in the 2020 elections, Mr. Mensah said he will bring on board “long years of experience. Managerial expertise and dimension to problem-solving and deep understanding of our Ghanaian culture, aspiration and expectations and above all I bring vision and competence and capacity.”