Mr. Francis Addai-Nimoh, a presidential hopeful of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has recommended the adoption of a new face agenda by the party in order to break the 8-year jinx in Ghana politics.
He said after eight years in government, the party needed to be relieved of the facial fatigue of the leadership in its bid to go beyond eight years in governance.
The ex-lawmaker of Asante Mampong explained his position that a candidate who had been in the present government could not win power for the party in the 2024 elections, hence, the need for the party and delegates to consider his proposition.
According to Addai-Nimoh, the new face agenda which he would launch soon must be characterised by an unblemished character of a candidate who must be a unifier and whose moral aptitude should not be questioned.
“The flagbearer must be a new face with a new language and message, and a new appeal,” he told The Chronicle in an interview in Kumasi.
He said then candidate Atta Mills won the 2000 elections as a new face against Nana Akufo-Addo, who was a Foreign Minister in the Kufuor-led administration.
The presidential hopeful further explained that John Mahama, as a sitting president, could not win the 2016 elections due to the same facial fatigue.
He stressed that the candidate must not be part of the current government or administration, either as a minister of vice president, emphasising that in considering the choice of a candidate, the party must look at the immediate future (2024), medium (2028) and long term prospects (2032 and 2036) and beyond.
Mr. Addai-Nimoh said to secure the future of the party, the age of the candidate should be considered to determine the most suitable person who must also be popular to lead the party beyond the 2024 elections in case NPP was unable to break the 8.
Elaborating his position on age, Addai-Nimoh stressed that he was the most suitable person, because in case the NPP was unable to break the 8 in 2024, he would be 63 or 67 or 71 in 2028, 2032 and 2036, while Dr. Bawumia would be 65 or 69 in 2028 and 2032 in that order.
He said Kennedy Agyapong and Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen might be 68 and 74 respectively in 2028, and 72 and 78 in 2032.
He also flawed the imaginary queue in terms of leadership of the NPP, and said there must not be any such queue, and further stated that the party was not doing rotational leadership from the Busia, Dombo and Danquah traditions, because there was no such formula.
According to Addai-Nimoh, the “Yenimwo fri tete” slogan worked for Nana Akufo-Addo in 2007, because the message resonated without challenge.
He, therefore, suggested a lineal formula based on prevailing conditions in the party and in the country, for which the 2023 NPP flagbearership race must be open for the most suitable person to lead and win in 2024, 2028 and 2032.
According to him, the NPP would have an edge over John Mahama if it (NPP) fielded a new face.
He also envisaged that a new leadership for both the NPP and NDC would reduce the level of animosity between them and move the country forward.
Mr. Addai-Nimoh, Member of Parliament for Mampong Constituents from 2013 to 2020, contested the NPP flagbearership race in 2014 alongside Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, John Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, Dr. Kofi Konadu Appraku, Mr. Joe Ghartey, Stephen Asamoah Boateng and Prof. Ekumfi Ameyaw and placed third in the election.
