Rapper and businessman Okyeame Kwame has revealed "about three months ago," he declined to be Alan Kyerematen's running mate on the ticket of the Movement for Change (M4C).

Popularly called OK, he indicated he was initially flattered when Kyerematen told him he ticked all boxes on a 10-item list of the best fit for the portfolio. 

On why he declined despite being a perfect fit, the author and influencer said the position came with considerable risks and implications for his professional and private life, and that of his family's.

Meeting 

"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 told Kwame Dadzie on Joy FM.

Criteria 

"They wanted an educated person, someone who'd done work in development - I've done work in policy development, climate change, health - someone with a strong social media presence, someone who had done work - at least, I've been in the music industry for 26 years. [There were] other factors [like] married, and things like that," he revealed.

Risks 

"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 explained.

"Had I prepared my family well enough to deal with that? Completely no! And because of that I didn't want to put my family in jeopardy. Plus, we have short, mid and long-term plans for the family. Being a VP to a political candidate was not part of it."

Lesson in leadership 

"So as I keep telling my children to be consistent – even though they can be spontaneous – to be consistent with their strategic plan, how then do I now immediately turn around and say, 'Someone wants me to be VP. I'm going to do it' when all that I keep telling my children is to be consistent? I had to show by leadership [that] family [comes] first," he emphasised.