Ahead of NDC presidential primary: Kojo Bonsu, working to make impact
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) will on Saturday, May 13, 2023 hold the final leg of its internal elections to elect a presidential and parliamentary candidates for the party.
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Ahead of the elections, the Daily Graphic would be publishing the profile of the three presidential aspirants vying for the party’s flagbearership.
They are former President John Dramani Mahama, a former Chief Executive of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, Kojo Bonsu, and a former Minister of Finance, Dr Kwabena Duffuor.
We begin with the profile of Mr Bonsu.
Kojo Bonsu
He considers himself as having the silk and steel in changing the face of Ghana’s politics and repositioning the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to recapture power in the 2024 general election.
Kojo Bonsu said his decision to run for the high office of the land was not “a sudden whim,” but a calling that was deeply rooted in his upbringing and experience as an entrepreneur, businessman social democrat and public servant.
However, that dream of “climbing” to the high office hinges on his ability to scale over a major hurdle on May 13, 2023, where he faces off with his former boss, John Dramani Mahama and former Finance Minister, Kwabena Duffuor in an internal election to select one of them to lead the party.
Born in 1960 in Kumasi to the Offinsohemaa, Nana Adwoa Pokuaa and Mr Kojo Mensa-Bonsu, a commander of the Worker’s Brigade at Sekyere-Dumasi, the huge-framed Kojo Bonsu is relying on his experiences acquired in different trades including football administration, leadership and business to rebrand the party he so loved.
Indeed, in his early years, he found that sports was a perfect outlet to draw his concerns and worries. He excelled at both hockey and football and later discovered that he had talents as a leader and administrator.
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As time will have it, in 1992, he rose to become the team manager of the senior male national football team, the Black Stars, for six years in the team’s most successful periods.
In 1994, Kojo Bonsu, through his relationship with some prominent business companies, opened the door for him to become Adidas International representative for West Africa, giving him the opportunity to play a leading role in football administration in the sub-region.
Veering into the apex of football administration, Mr Bonsu became one of four persons who contested and lost to Kwesi Nyantakyi in the 2005 as the president of the Ghana Football Association (GFA). Prior to that, he had been a director of Real Tamale United and an executive member of Kumasi Asante Kotoko.
As a man of many parts, Mr Bonsu started the famous Agoo Media which became a household brand that beautifully captured events across the continent.
As part of the trajectory, Mr Bonsu in 2009 was appointed a board member of the Ghana Oil Company Limited (GOIL) and a year later, he was tasked with the responsibility of leading the business as its CEO.
He provided dynamic leadership which resulted in the successful re-branding of the business and the subsequent repositioning of GOIL as a market leader.
NDC matters
In mainstream politics, Kojo Bonsu has been a committed member of the NDC and has served diligently and efficiently at every opportunity.
In 2013, he took on the role as the CEO of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) which he delivered many projects including the redevelopment of the Kejetia Central Market and modernisation of the Rattray Park.
In the spirit of ensuring the best prospects for the party in the 2016 election, he initiated the “Unity walk” where he was able to bring together different factions of the party to align with the singular objective of working together to retain power.
Kojo Bonsu declared his intention to lead the party in 2018, two years before the 2020 general election but dropped out to throw his weight behind the winner of the internal primary, John Dramani Mahama.
Beyond this, the former CEO of the KMA, had played several “behind-the-scene” roles in ensuring that the image of his boss, Mr Mahama and his legacies were well felt in the Ashanti Region where he was well received as the KMA boss.
Plans
He has many plans for Ghana including changing the economic structure of the country by adding value to local produce, empowering individuals to create wealth, breathing in a new attitudinal change to trigger development and achieve a self-sufficient status.
“I believe we are at a crossroads in the history of our beloved nation and we are facing formidable crises.
“It is either we are going to regain our rightful place as a people who have been blessed with so much natural endowment through dynamic leadership or else we are going to be judged as the generation that failed to reenergise, reinvent, revive and restore hope to the teaming masses of Ghanaians struck with socioeconomic challenges which threaten their survival,” he told Daily Graphic.
“I am a man of action, and action is what is needed to lead the NDC to victory in 2024, as one is judged by results, not by the magnitude of promises,” he added.
In creating a new era for Ghana, Kojo Bonsu, is hoping to ensure a peaceful, stable and prosperous nation for all.
Among the key points, the flagbearer hopeful is to push for a new agricultural revolution, insist on a two-year national service with the military on a special programme to improve the country’s working attitudes, love a nation and national agenda for both Senior High School (SHS) and tertiary graduates.
The product of Tamale Secondary School hopes to create a new leadership where every Ghanaian counts (an equal and equitable society for all).
According to him, a victorious NDC, will be the only party that can genuinely claim to work for the good people of Ghana and indeed, all his initiatives are to ensure the NDC returs to power in 2024.
But all the plans and big dreams could only become possible if he able to surmount the May 13 hurdle.
Social life
Aside politics, Kojo Bonsu is an avid music connoisseur with enviable experience working with the best of Ghana’s musical talents including the great Osibisa band.
He is a smart dresser through a tradition of quality garments and shoes.
“I love travelling and spending time with friends and family,” he told the Daily Graphic ahead of the May 13 internal election.
Kojo Bonsu is a philanthropist, assisting many institutions and organisations across.