Alhaji Mahama Iddrisu is a

Ghanaian Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

politician and a businessman. Iddrisu was a member of the

Provisional National Defence Council The Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) was the name of the Ghanaian government after the People's National Party's elected government was overthrown by Jerry Rawlings, the former head of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, in a coup ...

and he is a former

Minister for Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

. He is a founding member of the National Democratic Congress. He is the longest-serving Minister of Defence of Ghana, serving from 1985 to 1999, for 14 years. As a politician, he believes in the Social Democratic philosophy.

Early life and education

Alhaji Mahama Iddrisu is a native of Wa, the capital town of the Upper West Region of Ghana. He had his secondary school education at

Tamale Secondary School Tamale Senior High School formerly Government Secondary School, Tamale, Gbewaa Secondary School, and more recently Tamale Secondary School is a co-educational second cycle boarding school located at Education Ridge, a suburb of the Sagnarigu ...

, in

Tamale A tamale, in Spanish tamal, is a traditional Mesoamerican dish made of masa, a dough made from nixtamalized corn, which is steamed in a corn husk or banana leaf. The wrapping can either be discarded prior to eating or used as a plate. Tamale ...

in the Northern Region of Ghana.

Politics

Iddrisu was a member of the United National Convention and later also of the All People's Party. He later joined

(PNDC) under the leadership of Jerry John Rawlings who served as the chairman and head of state. Under the PNDC, Iddrisu was the Secretary of Transport and Communications from 1983 to 1987. He also served as the Secretary of Defence from 1985 to 1993 when the council was dissolved.

Minister of state

When constitutional government was restored in 1993 under the National Democratic Congress, Iddrisu was appointed as the Minister of Defence, a position he held until 1999. He also served as Minister of Interior working in that role concurrently with his role as Minister of Defence from November 1996 to February 1997, when he handed over to E.M. Osei-Wusu. In 1999 he was appointed the Presidential Adviser on Governmental Affairs.

Presidential Bid

Ahead of the

2008 Ghanaian general election General elections were held in Ghana on 7 December 2008. Since no candidate received more than 50% of the votes, a run-off election was held on 28 December 2008 between the two candidates who received the most votes, Nana Akufo-Addo of the govern ...

, Iddrisu declared his intention and stood for the NDC's presidential elections in 2006, he stood against then former Vice President

John Evans Atta Mills John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills (21 July 1944 – 24 July 2012) was a Ghanaian politician and legal scholar who served as President of Ghana from 2009 until his death in 2012. He was inaugurated on 7 January 2009, having defeated the governing party ...

, former minister Ekwow Spio-Garbrah and NDC financier Eddie Annan. On 21 December 2006, he lost the elections to the previous flag bearer for the 2000 and 2004 elections, John Evans Atta Mills. Mills won with a majority of 81.4%, or 1,362 votes with Ekwow Spio-Garbrah coming in second with 8.7% (146 votes), he was third with 8.2% (137 votes), and whilst Eddie Annan was fourth with 1.7% (28 votes).

National Democratic Congress

Iddrisu is a founding member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) when it was formed in 1992 after the

(PNDC) was dissolved ahead of the country's return to constitutional rule. He has served in several capacities within the party since its inception. In 2002, Iddrisu stood for the chairmanship election to replace Rawlings as head of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), but he lost to former Attorney–General and Minister of Justice,

Obed Asamoah Obed Yao Asamoah (born 6 February 1936) is a Ghanaian lawyer, academic and politician. Asamoah was the longest serving foreign minister and Attorney General of Ghana under Jerry Rawlings from 1981 to 1997. Asamoah was educated at King's Coll ...

by just 2 votes getting 332 against his 334.

Council of elders

Iddrisu served as the Vice chairman of the council of elders of the NDC over the years, with the party's founder Jerry John Rawlings serving as the chairman. After Rawlings' death in November 2020, he has been serving as the Acting chairman of the council of elders.

Personal life

Iddrisu is the husband of Betty Mould-Iddrisu a former Minister of Justice under the John Atta Mills administration and a former Minister of Education under the John Dramani Mahama administration. He is also the brother in law of

Alex Mould Alex Kofi Mensah Mould is a Ghanaian chemical engineer and politician who is a former Chief Executive Officer of Ghana National Petroleum Corporation. He is a member of the National Democratic Congress of Ghana. Before he was appointed CEO of G ...

, a former

Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Ghana National Petroleum Corporation The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) is the state agency responsible for the exploration, licensing, and distribution of petroleum-related activities in Ghana. History The corporation was established in 1983 to replace the Petroleum ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iddrisu, Mahama Ghanaian Ahmadis Ghanaian businesspeople Living people National Democratic Congress (Ghana) politicians Members of the Council of State (Ghana) Year of birth missing (living people) Communications ministers of Ghana Transport ministers of Ghana Defence ministers of Ghana Tamale Senior High School alumni