The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has declared that he does not have a candidate in the upcoming flag-bearer contest of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
He has also refuted allegations that the government machinery is supporting the candidature of the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, to become the next leader of the party.
According to the President, those allegations are “false and malicious narratives,” adding that there is no one in the Party who can say that he, President Akufo-Addo, has asked him or her to support a certain aspirant.
President Akufo-Addo was speaking on Wednesday, August 2, 2023 during a meeting with party communicators held at Jubilee House, Accra.
“I have not set out to dismiss any MMDCE or political appointee from office for supporting any particular aspirant, no Minister or deputy Minister has lost their job or been threatened for openly campaigning for their preferred presidential aspirant, neither has any caveat emanated from Jubilee House to the party across the length and breadth of the country, demanding that Candidate A be supported over Candidate B. I, better than anyone in the party, knows that this is not the way to go,” he stated.
However, being eligible to cast a vote in the internal contest, he said that he would definitely vote for a candidate competent enough to ensure the third defeat of John Mahama, the candidate for the opposition NDC.
Addressing the issue at stake, the President remarked that whoever becomes the presidential candidate “will be chosen freely and transparently by an Electoral College of some two hundred and fifty thousand (250,000) people and not by President Akufo-Addo. I have just one vote, the same as any polling station executive anywhere in the country.
“I will cast that vote for an aspirant who, I believe, can best unite the Party and, above all, who can win the presidential election of December 7, 2024 and inflict a third successive defeat on the perennial NDC Presidential Candidate, John Dramani Mahama,” he added.
NO PRESIDENT
Referring to the history of the NPP, President Akufo-Addo opined that no President can foist a candidate on the party against its wishes.
He explained that the culture of the party has never subscribed to a cult of personality, citing the instances where keen contest elected former President Kufuor to lead the party, before him.
The NPP Director of Communications, Richard Ahiagbah, stated in relation to the party’s conduct in next year’s election that President Akufo-Addo cannot afford to allow what happened in 2008 to reoccur in 2024.
INVECTIVES
The President, however, raised concerns about the manner in which the various campaigns are taking place. According to him, some actions by a few members of the party are making the front pages for the wrong reasons.
He told the party communicators that energies were being expended hurling invectives at each other, instead of at the opponents and in the process, taking digs at the government.
He warned against certain actions of yesteryear, which contributed to the party losing in 2008, being repeated.
“We cannot afford an internal campaign based on ethnic or religious considerations,” he stated.
VICTORY 2024
Acknowledging that the economy was not in good condition, President Akufo-Addo reassured the gathering that victory for the NPP in the 2024 election and handing over to an NPP Presidential Candidate so elected as President by the Ghanaian people is what he is working for, and he expects all members of the NPP to share the same goals.
He indicated that regardless of the challenges, the party and the government, for the next 15 months, have the opportunity to put things right to win the hearts of Ghanaians for an NPP third consecutive term in office.
“I assume that we all want our party to win the 2024 elections decisively, our parliamentary candidates to win again the majority of seats in Parliament and our flagbearer to become the President of the Republic.
“I expect and accept arguments on how we prosecute this agenda. But I do not expect and do not accept that party members would do anything to jeopardise the goal we have set ourselves of winning the 2024 elections, and I will work with all who seek this objective,” he added.
