The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) will tomorrow go to the polls tomorrow to elect its presidential candidate for the 2024 general election.
Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia, the Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, former Food and Agriculture Minister, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, and former MP for Mampong in Ashanti Region, Francis Addai-Nimoh, are battling for the presidential slot.
In all, a total of 208, 261 delegates, consisting of Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Patrons and Council of Elders, Foundation Members, National Council, Regional Officers, TESCON, Overseas Branches, MPs/MMDCEs, Constituency Patrons, Constituency Council of Elders, Constituency Officers, Electoral Area Coordinators, and Polling Station Executives, would be voting.
Undertaking
Addressing the press after a meeting between the National Council and the aspirants, the General Secretary of the NPP, Justin Frimpong Kodua, announced that the candidates had signed an undertaking not to resign from the party because of losing the polls.
Mr Frimpong Koduah said the aspirants had also agreed to accept the results of the primary and to put the interest of the party first.
“We were able to get all the four aspirants to sign an undertaking and, in summary, they are to accept the primary results, and promote peace and cohesion. If they don’t win, they will not resign from the party, and support the winner of the primary,” he added.
He also revealed that the aspirants had also agreed to “ensure and enforce mechanisms that have been established by the party. He added that they will also work within the timelines and duration that have been established by the party from now till the results are declared and to respect the decision of the delegates of our party.”
Disunity
At the commencement of the meeting, the Chairman of the Council of Elders, Hackman Owusu Agyemang, bemoaned the state of the party, indicating that it had been plunged into disunity by the selfish interests of some individuals.
He indicated that the race for the flagbearer position had, at times, generated passionate debates and disagreements within the party and among supporters of the candidates. He called on all the aspirants to eschew divisiveness, and stay united after Saturday’s presidential primary.
Nov 4 message
The National Chairman of the party, Stephen Ayesu Ntim, called on the entire membership of the NPP to rally around whoever will emerge as the party’s new leader and flagbearer after the party’s presidential primaries.
He pointed out that unwavering support for the party’s new leader after the internal poll is the surest way for the party to achieve its goal of “breaking the 8” to win a third successive term in office in the December the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections.
Mr. Stephen Ntim said: “It is evident that what stands in the way of the NPP to a third consecutive electoral victory is ourselves, our actions, and our inactions”.
“The way forward is for us to deal decisively with the widespread indiscipline, apathy and general indifference in the Party. I want to call specifically on the four flagbearer aspirants who are all capable of leading the NPP to commit to working as a team to ensure victory, even if they fail to win on Saturday.
“Rallying behind the eventual winner on Saturday is a necessary condition for our success in 2024 because it has the effect of promoting unity and healing the wounds that the internal contest has opened up. We must reconnect with our passion to serve, which was the driving force behind the exploits of our forebears,” the NPP National Chairman stated.
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