A group calling itself the Patriotic Movement for Bawumia is appalled over the ‘needless’ pressure being mounted on Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia by lobbyists to select their preferred choice as running mate.
They have thus advised the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, not to kowtow to these pressures, but name a candidate he prefers.
The group, made up of members from the various levels in the party, opined that if Dr. Bawumia succumbed to the manipulations, the consequences on the party’s quest to break the eight would be dire.
“We are humbly advising our flagbearer, His Excellency Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, not to allow any individual or groups to compel him or lure him into choosing a running mate against his actual or real choice.
“Allowing yourself to be manipulated in this manner has dire consequences on the party’s victory in this year’s presidential election,” James Aggrey Fiifi Eshun, 2nd vice chairman, Oforikrom constituency, said on behalf of the group.
He was addressing a news conference in Kumasi, where the group condemned the activities and strategies of some groups in the party.
These activities, he mentioned, included press conferences, consistently sending delegations to Dr. Bawumia and signing petitions, all geared towards influencing the choice of running mate.
Aghast by the development, the group has advised Dr. Bawumia to be the ‘man with his own vision’ they have known him to be, and be bold enough to select a running mate he considers fit to run the 2024 presidential race with.
HISTORY
According to the Patriotic Movement for Buwamia, evidence abounds from Ghana’s fourth Republic’s political history that any presidential candidate who succumbs to such pressures has always plunged their parties into serious electoral doom.
They claim the NPP risks suffering from serious disunity and long-standing cracks in her rank and file, should the flag-bearer permit the pressure being mounted on him.
This choice, orchestrated by hired political analysts and campaigners, would only satisfy their selfish interests at the expense of the NPP’s victory in the 2024 presidential election.
“It is sad to note that the NPP members, who must have been vigorously campaigning for our flagbearer, are at this crucial moment busily exerting all their energies on adopting various diabolic strategies to force a running mate on Dr. Bawumia. This is absurd and must be condemned by all persons who mean well for the party,” part of a statement issued by the Patriotic Movement for Bawumia read.
SPONSORSHIP
The group dreads how the other factions and neutral members of the party would feel, react and respond to the announcement of a running mate forced through by lobbyists.
They have cautioned people who have an interest in becoming the running mate to Dr. Bawumia to refrain from sponsoring groups and individuals or employing tactics that are alien to the NPP’s modus operandi.
”Some of the people whose names have popped up as being interested in being Dr. Bawumia’s running mate have been accused of sponsoring people to hold press conferences and sign petitions to forcefully cause our flagbearer, Dr. Bawumia, to make them his running mate. This childish and odd way of operating in the NPP, if true, must be condemned in no uncertain terms.
Selecting a running mate is the prerogative of the flag-bearer and under no circumstances must he or she be made to choose a running mate under duress.
Furthermore, this weak means of getting a person to become a running mate has never been the NPP’s style, it is too disgracing and must cease forthwith”, the Patriotic Movement for Bawumia cautioned.
PRECEDENT
They further advised that characters who are hell-bent on forcing a candidate on Dr. Bawumia should not make the current situation appear different from those of Dr. Bawumia’s predecessors.
They further posited that NPP flag-bearers have always had the liberty and power to choose their preferred running mates and that the status quo must not be changed during Dr. Bawumia’s era.
UNHAPPY
In a scathing criticism, the group respectfully declared that they were not pleased with the recent ‘sponsored declaration’ for a particular person who is known to have declared serious interest in being the running mate to Dr. Bawumia.
They, therefore, appealed passionately to the NPP’s flagbearer to disregard any such endorsements that might have come now, in the past, or in the in the future.
“Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia ‘is his own man’, let us allow him to select someone he has tested and finds capable of helping him lead the NPP to break the eight and consequently directing the next NPP government to continue to bring the needed development for our beloved country, Ghana,” the group added.
