A flag bearer aspirantfor the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwabena Agyei Agyepong has urged other presidential hopefuls of the party belonging to various camps to work together towards a common purpose after the presidential primary.
“We need to work together towards a common purpose after the presidential primary so that whoever wins will be supported and assisted to win the 2024 general election,” he stressed.
Mr Agyepong cautioned against tribal and religious politics that had characterised the campaigns of some flagbearer aspirants which could have dire consequences on the electoral fortune of the party in the 2024 elections.
He indicated that it did not foster unity, peace, harmony and knowledge among the rank and file of the party and asked those who were engaged in such acts to eschew them considering the fact the country had attained 30 years in terms of practicing democracy.
“I hope the various camps of our flag bearer aspirants should be able to come together and fight for a common purpose after the polls must be devoid of bickering, backbiting, acrimony, tribal and religious sentiments.
“It is important that we do not organise politics around tribes, religion, or even money or connections because it does not help and does not also foster unity, peace, harmony and knowledge within the party and every day I plead with the top hierarchy of NPP after 30 years of democracy which we pride ourselves in must be protected and safeguarded.
“When you travel outside Ghana and identify yourself as a Ghanaian you are admired, we should not allow such negative issues to divide to derail our progress, growth and development of our envious democratic governance,” Mr Agyapong admonished.
His comment was in reaction to claims by Eugene Boakye Antwi, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Subin Constituency in the Ashanti Region, that the party needed not to bother much about winning votes from areas with high Muslim or “Northern” populations rather concentrate its energies on predominantly Akan or Christian areas since those areas had always given the NPP votes and will help it win the 2024 elections to break eight years of political party cycle if it focuses on such areas.
According to him, the empirical evidence was NPP derived political power, assistance, support, authority, and existence from Akan-dominated or Christian-dominated areas of the country and notwithstanding criticisms about his engagement in tribal and religious politics, tribalism could not be completely divorced from the nation’s politics.
