Julius Debrah

Julius Debrah (born 24 April 1966) is a Ghanaian politician and chief of staff to the president of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama. Debrah previously held the positions of Minister of Local Government and Rural Development and Regional Minister for Eastern Region.

Politics

As Parliamentary Candidate In the 2000 Ghana Elections, he stood as a parliamentary candidate in the Suhum (Ghana parliament constituency) and lost to Ransford Agyapong, the New Patriotic Party candidate, by gaining 12,368 of the votes cast, representing 41.20% whilst the winner got 16,494 votes, representing 54.90%. In 2004, he again stood for the parliamentary seat in the Suhum (Ghana parliament constituency) and lost to the New Patriotic Party's Frederick Opare-Ansah, who got 21,720 votes representing 55.20% against his 17,125 votes representing 43.50%.

In 2012, when his party (NDC) was in power, he once again stood for the parliamentary candidate for the Suhum (Ghana parliament constituency) seat and lost by 388 votes, the closest he had come in the three times he had stood for the parliamentary seat. He lost to the incumbent rival from the 2004 Elections, Frederick Opare-Ansah, who got 24,046 votes representing 49.28% whilst he got 23,658 representing 48.49%.

Ghana Tourism Authority In 2009, he was appointed as the chief executive officer of the Ghana Tourism Authority. He served in that role from 2009 to January 2013. In mid-2011, under his leadership and the Ministry of Tourism, the then Ghana Tourist Board was reshaped into the Ghana Tourism Authority to enhance its role in promoting tourism in Ghana through the Parliament of Ghana's passage of ACT 817.

Minister of State

Regional Minister In February 2013, Debrah was nominated by John Dramani Mahama to serve in the position of Eastern Regional Minister. After a month, he was moved from the Eastern Region to the capital region, Greater Accra to serve as the Greater Accra Regional Minister.

He served in that role for a year and was seen as someone championing the involvement of the local government in nation-building.

Minister for Local Government and Rural Development Debrah was appointed to serve as Minister in charge of Local Government and Rural Development after serving as regional minister for both the Greater Accra Region and Eastern Region. This was seen by experts as a move to ensure the massive involvement of the local authorities and people in decision-making and nation-building.

Chief of Staff In February 2015, Julius Debrah was appointed Chief of Staff by President John Mahama to replace Prosper Bani after serving as the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development the one year prior. Debrah's appointment was received with joy by members of the National Democratic Congress.

Personal life A native of Obomeng Kwahu, Debrah is married with two children.