Ghanaian musician, Okyeame Kwame, has disclosed that he was contacted to be the running mate of the Presidential Candidate for Movement for Change, John Alan Kyerematen.
He said although he passed the qualities Alan was looking for, he had to turn down the invitation.
“I was in Kumasi for an event, and he reached out that I should come see him when I arrived in Accra. So I went to see him, and then he espoused 10 criteria for the person he was looking for to be his vice. So it was very pampering,” he noted.
According to Okyeame, Alan was looking for an educated person, someone who had done work in development, someone with a strong social media presence, someone who had a career or occupation, someone who was married, among other qualities.
Asked why he declined the request, Okyeame said he was not ready for it.
“My children are teenagers. My son is 15, my daughter is 13, so if I am going into partisan politics, I need to have prepared them for a year, I had to look at other things like security, what if other people begin to spread false propaganda about you, they go into your cupboard, dig out your ghost and bring them out, girls whose hearts you have broken, things like that,” he said.
He further explained he had not prepared his family well enough on that score, because of that he did not want to put them in jeopardy.
“My family has plans; short, mid and long term plans, and being Vice President of a political party was not part of them. So as I keep telling my children to be consistent even though they can be spontaneous sometimes; how do I then now, immediately turn around and say someone just called me to be his running mate, I am going to do it, when all that I keep telling my children is to be consistent? I had to show by leadership,” he said.
Because he declined Alan Kyerematen’s request, the former Minister of Trade and Industry settled on another creative, Kwame Owusu Danso of the defunct music group, Echo. Kwame Owusu Danso, is a lawyer, a broadcaster and PR consultant.
Okyeame Kwame, apart from his music business, has been very instrumental in various forms of advocacy including health, education and environmental preservation.
As a ‘Made in Ghana’ ambassador, he sets out to promote Ghanaian culture through his music, clothing and campaigns geared towards that cause.
He has a Bachelor of Arts in Applied Linguistics, Master of Arts in Marketing Strategy and Masters in Alternative Dispute Resolution.
Okyeame is currently out with a new song titled ‘Stop Galamsey’ which tackles the issue of illegal mining in Ghana.
