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General Secretary of the Peoples' National Convention, Bernard Monnah has downplayed the role of academic qualification amongst politicians in the governance of the state. According to him, what the country needs are willing and able citizens who are capable of manning the affairs of the state and not citizens who only hold exceptional academic qualifications. �People are talking about qualification and what have you. Take the constitution and read, does it say somebody is to have before he becomes the president of Ghana? He must be above forty years and be a citizen of Ghana and of sound mind (paid up all the taxes) that is all,� he said. The constitution in his view �didn�t say you must have education in economics or political science� before you could lead the country. Mr. Monnah speaking to Bismark Brown on Breakfast TV about the credentials of the two possible running mates of both the NPP and NDC said, academic qualifications, though necessary for the understanding of policies, should not be the basic criteria for the selection of a candidate to assist a flagbearer when going into an election. �For someone in the banking or economic sector, they are also part of us, they may have knowledge in that field,� he stated. �We cannot say their knowledge is limited in the banking sector or finance sector. But what I am saying is that those who have sacrificed their all in all, for party activism, concentrated and built their parties to a certain level, when it comes to this stage of selecting (a running mate) they must be considered as well,� he continued. Finding reason behind the choice of technocrats to assist both the NPP and NDC running mates, he asked: �Was Nkrumah an economist? Did he manage this nation well?� When host Bismark Brown responded in the affirmative to the latter question, he continued �so where is the economist coming from? Why must it be someone with a banking background?� Recalling what erstwhile governments brought on board without purely academically inclined politicians, he recalled: �UNESCO came out in 1963 at the pace which Ghana was developing and advancing in our industry and manufacturing days and stated that Ghana would have become net importer of labour by the 1970. Today the consequences are clear.� �So I am saying it doesn�t take an economist or a banker. It takes someone with development focus to lead this nation and that is what we are looking for.� President John Mahama on Tuesday July 31 named Papa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur as his Vice subject to Parliamentary approval. The former Bank of Ghana boss is viewed by many as being more of a technocrat than a politician despite working as a Deputy Secretary for the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning during the PNDC era and working in the same capacity during the first term of the Rawlings-led NDC Government. Before his nomination, the opposition NPP had already named Dr. Masamudu Bawumia as the running mate to Nana Akufo Addo for the 2012 General Election. Also seen by many as a reserved politician, the learned running mate of the NPP was the Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana before he was chosen by the NPP flagbearer.