Haruna Iddrisu, the former Minority Leader and Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamale South, has committed to securing 90,000 votes for the presidential candidature of former President John Dramani Mahama.
The ‘Operation 90,000 Votes for JM’ was announced during the launch of Haruna’s re-election bid at an event held in Tamale on September 8, 2024. The target effectively means that Haruna is plotting to increase Mahama’s vote margin from 2020 by over 30,000 votes.
In the 2016 election, Mahama polled 51,839 votes in Tamale South, a figure that went up by about 6,000 votes in 2020.
The one-time Minister of Employment pledged further to retain his seat in the elections while working to ensure Mahama is also duly elected as president after the elections.
90,000 votes target achievable:
Journalist and Tamale South Constituency Election watcher, Fuseini Safianu Mandeiya supported Haruna Iddrisu’s assertion that the 90,000 votes target was achievable.
“Haruna Iddrisu’s target of 90,000 votes is achievable because the constituency has about 145,000 registered votes. And the constituency is largely dominated by NDC supporters. So it is possible to get that number. Only apathy will stop him from getting it. But I don’t see apathy against NDC this time because their supporters are hungry for power. And they will come all out to vote” he said.
Thousands of residents defied a heavy downpour to witness the campaign launch which was graced by the NDC’s Vice Presidential aspirant, Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang. The event which took place at the SIC Quarters Park was very well attended.
Several Members of Parliament including Edward Bawa, MP for Bongo East, Muntaka Mubarak, MP for Asawase, Ibrahim Mohammed Murtala, MP for Tamale Central, Alhassan Suhuyini, MP for Tamale North, and former government appointees under the erstwhile NDC government including Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong also attended the campaign launch.
Haruna Iddrisu is a household name in Ghana’s politics and more specifically in the politics of the Muslim-dominant northern regions of the country.
On September 8, 2024; the Tamale South lawmaker marked his 54th birthday given that he was born on the same day in 1970.
Haruna is undoubtedly one of the most influential opposition politicians in Ghana today having previously served as the Minority Leader in the 7th Parliament (between 2017 – 2021).
He was only removed from the position in 2022 and replaced with the current Minority Leader, Cassiel Ato Forson, MP for Ajumako Enyan-Essiam in the Central Region.