‘Wonder Boy’ Gerald Fires Up La NPP

A University Lecturer, Gerald Joseph Nii Nyanyofio has been elected the parliamentary candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in La Dadekotopon for the December 2020 elections, sparking wide spread jubilations across the constituency.

Gerald polled 543 votes to defeat the incumbent Member of Parliament, Vincent ‘Obama’ Odotei who had 376 votes. The incumbent MP, until recently was Deputy Minister for Communications. The third contender, Comfort A. Kotei managed with 46 votes.

If the NPP had any doubts of retaining the La Dadekotopon seat, the introduction of Gerald as candidate erased such fears and sparked some renewed hopes, excitement and sense of belonging and togetherness among the NPP faithful.

When news went round that Wonder Boy Gerald had won the NPP primaries, there was an immediate and simultaneous jubilation across the constituency and it lasted late into the night.

His victory has sent some political shivers into other political parties especially the National Democratic Congress (NDC) whose candidate, Rita Odoley, the former Chief Executive for the La- Dadekotopon Municipal Assembly (LaDMA)

Even persons who are openly known to belong to other political parties were heard publicly saying that if Gerald is the NPP candidate, they would vote for him.

Though Gerald, the new candidate, came into the primaries as an underdog to the incumbent MP, it was a wonder how he managed to win 8 out of the 11 polling stations in the constituency.

La-Dadekotopon, one of the most strategically places constituencies in the country, has not been a safe seat for the NPP over the years. The current MP, Odotei, managed to snatch the seat from Nii Amasah Namoale, who was on the ticket of the NPP.

But he someway somehow, lost favour with the people and could not win the primaries to be retained as the NPP candidate.

The new kid on the block, Gerald Nyanyofio, seems to have what it takes to unite the party and galvanize the efforts of the constituency executive and party leaders into victory.

His support base transcends the NPP and he clearly has found favour with the youth.

Professional Life

His main areas of expertise and interest are in the field of Public Sector Policy Management, driving accelerated change in complex public sector organizations as well as business environments. Prior to joining academia, he worked on contract as a Sales Executive Officer with the Standard Chartered Bank, Ghana for four (4) years, where he remained on top of his responsibilities and provided banking solutions to individuals and a host of reputable corporate establishments. He rose to the position of Sales Executive Team Manager prior to his resignation for a career in academia.

Currently, Joseph Gerald Nyanyofio is with the Department of Business Administration, lecturing courses in Public Administration, Business Management, Leadership, Business Policy and Strategy, Poverty Wealth and Development and Organizational Behaviour.

As a lecturer, he has been responsible for equipping students with knowledge for both public and private sector careers, as well as in academic research. He does this by bringing both his academic and professional experiences to bear on his teaching and research activities. He excels on the job, primarily as a result of a sincere commitment and passion to help all caliber of students to increase their potentials in diverse areas of academic life.

In 2016, he was appointed as the Coordinator for Management Programmes at the School of Graduate Studies, UPSA, where he has been responsible for driving the design and delivery of academic programmes to ensure consistency with the overall programme philosophy, objectives and outcomes in order to develop quality graduates.

Local Level

At the local level, Joseph Gerald Nyanyofio has been at the forefront of youth leadership in La Dadekotopon since his early life in the 90s. He was a member of La Youth Clubs Association (LAYOCA) which championed various developmental agenda in the community. He is also a member of the; La Citizens Network (LACNET), Coalition of La Youth Associations (COLA), Sgt. Adjetey Memorial Alewolon Quiz Competition, and the La GaDangme Association that championed an aggressive Clean-Up Campaign and advocated with countless petitions to the then President JA Kufuor’s government for the expeditious rehabilitation of the Old La Market Project. He is known widely in GaDangme Association circles both locally and nationally.

Notable among his political activities are his role as an Advisor to the Tertiary Education Students Confederacy (TESCON) of the NPP at the University of Professional Studies, Accra and his regular financial support to the party.

As president of Ga Dangme Students Association at the University of Ghana, he assisted in the formulation and implementation of several development projects including the Annual Rural Outreach Project, King Tackie Tawiah and Nene Azu Mate-Kole Memorial Lectures and the GaDangme Annual Durbar, among others, in the University.