Former Education Minister and aspiring NPP flag bearer, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, says his life story, humility, and global experience give him an edge in the race to lead the largest opposition party.
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on September 16, Dr Adutwum recalled how he first won his parliamentary candidate race despite doubts about his background.
“There are some who said he just came, but I campaigned. I told my story. I got the delegates to understand why I was running. I did not say any negative about my opponent. I made them know that this is me. I’m here. I want us to change this constituency.”
He explained that his approach then is the same he will adopt as he tours the country to meet delegates.
“When I go across the country in the next few days to meet the delegates, I’m going to tell them who Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum is, and for them to know that this is my life story. I’m here because of divine providence and the grace of God, and that is why I’m standing in front of you today.
“I come with humility, because that’s what I’m made of. I have nothing to be arrogant about. I have nothing to be pompous about. I’m going to serve you and serve you well. I will bring this party together because I’m not insulting anybody for other people.”
Asked to spell out his unique selling proposition, Dr Adutwum said he stands tall as a transformer with both local and international experience.
“My unique selling proposition is that, one, I’m a transformer, and they can look at my track record when I took over the Ministry of Education.
“They can also look at the fact that I’ve done something with serious experience in the United States of America, where I was able to raise funds from Wall Street in building schools in Southern California.”
He stressed that his global exposure shapes his approach to Ghana’s challenges.
“My unique selling advantage is that I have global experience. I know how other countries have transformed themselves. I’ve been part of a society where a can-do attitude was everything.
“I tell people that what I got from America was not the money that I needed, what I got from there was the sense that everything is possible.”
For him, Ghana’s problems of poverty and unemployment should not be seen as obstacles but as issues that can be fixed with the right mindset.
“Dr Adutwum is not going to look at the issues surrounding poverty and lack of jobs and be bogged down by it and be frustrated by it.
“Dr Adutwum’s life experience in Ghana and the United States has taught me useful lessons that will make me look at challenges facing this country through a different prism altogether, because I don’t understand why some countries have done it, but we can’t.”
He concluded by saying that Ghana has enough goodwill to turn its fortunes around.
“We have enough people of goodwill in this country who are also frustrated by what is going on and want to see us turn the corner on poverty, and I’ll mobilise those army of people of goodwill, and I’ll say to them, let us put this scourge to rest and let our children grow up in a country where everything is possible.”