Mahama Ayariga, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Bawku, is projected to be chosen Majority Leader for the 9th Parliament of the 4th Republic.
Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, MP for Ajumako Enyan Essiam, will be replaced by the Bawku lawmaker, whom President John Mahama has designated as Minister of Finance.
Nearly two years ago (January 24, 2023), the NDC leadership front in Parliament was shaken up, with Cassiel Ato Forson succeeding Haruna Iddrisu.
The NDC’s National Chairman, John Asiedu Nketiah, explained the abrupt change by citing the party’s restructure from grassroots to flagbearer.
This latest transition of NDC parliamentary leadership is thought to have occurred in a more peaceful manner than the events surrounding the 2023 shift of NDC leadership in the House.
Mahama Ayariga was born on May 24, 1974. He is a lawyer and a politician. He served as Minister of Information and Media Relations as well as Minister of Youth and Sports during the previous administration of John Dramani Mahama (24 July 2012–7 January 2017).
Mahama Ayariga was born in Bawku, Upper East Region of Ghana. He attended schools in Ghana, Nigeria, and the United States of America. He attended Barewa College in Zaria, Kaduna, Nigeria.
He earned a Master of Law (LLM) from Harvard Law School in the United States and a Bachelor of Law (LLB) from the University of Ghana, Legon.
He began his career as a Teaching Assistant at the University of Ghana’s Faculty of Law, specializing in Natural Resources Law and International Law. He also co-founded and served as the Executive Director of the Legal Resources Centre, which supports human rights, community development, and social justice.
Mahama Ayariga represented Ghana’s Bawku Central constituency in parliament from 2005 until 2008, when he was defeated by Adamu Dramani Sakande of the NPP.
The seat became vacant after Adamu was convicted and imprisoned by a court for standing for election as a citizen of another country, which is against Ghana’s constitution. Ayariga reclaimed the seat in the 2012 general election.
When Prof John Evans Atta Mills won the elections in 2009, Ayariga served as Presidential Spokesman before being appointed Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry and Deputy Minister of Education.
President John Dramani Mahama recommended Mahama Ayariga for position as Minister of Information in January 2013. Mahama Ayariga is a member of the Appointments Committee of Ghana’s 7th Parliament of the Fourth Republic.
