The General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) , Mr Justin Frimpong Kodua, says the party has not been ‘hijacked’ by neither a group of party leaders and elders nor by government appointees as alleged by former Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, who announced his resignation from the party on Monday.
“The allegations captured in the statement of the Mr Kyerematen, who is also a founding member of the NPP is false, since the ongoing flag bearer-ship position of the party is not strategically skewed to favour any aspirant, as alleged by the former Trade Minister,” he stated.
Speaking at a news conference in Accra yesterday, Mr Kodua said the party was disappointed in the resignation of Mr Kyerematen, and wished him farewell in his political endeavour.
He said the party recognised Mr Kyeremanten’s contributions, sacrifice and dedication to his former party and urged all members of the party to remain calm as the party geared towards its November 4, elections to elect a flagbearer who would be capable of winning the 2024 general elections.
“The Party wants to believe that by his decision to hold the press conference to resign without first informing the leadership of the party suggests that he has made a premeditated and irrevocable decision to resign from the Party.
It also emphasised that, when the National Chairman visited him on behalf of the Party after the August 26, Special Electoral College, in an attempt to bring all the 10 aspirants together, he did not portray any sign of resigning from the party, let alone going independent,’’ Mr Kodua said.
He said since 1992, several party faithful have had the vision to lead the party, and subsequently, to lead the country, but sadly, as nature had its own course, only a few have had the opportunity to achieve that vision, stressing that party faithful who never had the opportunity to lead the party never resigned from the party, but continued to commit and serve until they were called to eternity.
Mr Kodua said the NPP had always been a dynamic and resilient political party, and this moment also serves as an opportunity for the party to demonstrate unity, fortitude, and unwavering commitment to the principles upon which the party was founded.
“First, Article 13(1) (1), of the Party’s Constitution states that the date and venue for the presidential primaries shall be decided by the National Council provided, however, that the National Council may, on appropriate occasion vary the date.
Without doubt, the National Council, the appropriate body mandated by the party’s constitution to make a determination on the date and venue did not violate the constitution by voting against the proposal for the use of a single venue for the elections,” Mr Kodua said.
He said that guided by facts and data, the leadership of the party disagreed entirely with this Mr Kyerematen’s assertion, stressing that historically, the selection of flagbearers for political parties in Ghana had been the preserve of a privileged few until the NPP took the bold decision to decentralise the process by expanding its electoral college, to enfranchise some 106,590 delegates in 2010.
About 200,000 delegates would decide the fate of the party’s next flagbearer relative to the estimated 1,998 who did the same in 1992.
BY BERNARD BENGHAN
