The former Trades and Industry Minister Alan Kyerematen’s abrupt resignation has been described by the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) as deliberate, particularly since he failed to inform the party leadership of his intention before making the announcement.
It said that Mr. Kyerematen’s decision to quit the party via a news conference rather than consulting with the party executive before making his announcement spoke much about his scheme.
The National Chairman of the NPP visited Mr. Kyerematen on behalf of the party after the Special Electoral College on August 26 in an effort to bring all 10 presidential candidates together, according to Justin Kodua Frimpong, the party’s general secretary, who spoke at a press conference yesterday at the party’s headquarters in Accra.
He claimed that Mr. Kyerematen showed no indications of leaving the party or becoming independent during the visit.
The General Secretary expressed admiration for his choice to run as an Independent in the 2024 presidential election and noted that since 1992, important party figures have expressed interest in leading the party and the nation, but those who haven’t succeeded haven’t given up on the party.
Since 1992, a number of party members have had the idea to lead the party and subsequently the nation, but unhappily, because nature takes its course, only a small number of them have really had the chance to do so.
He stated that party members who were never given the opportunity to lead remained loyal to the party and continued to serve, some until their death.
In a press conference held at the Movenpick Hotel in Accra on Monday, the former NPP presidential candidate, Mr. Kyerematen, announced his decision to leave the party and run as an Independent in the 2024 general election, drawing varied emotions from Ghanaians.
Allegations of unconstitutional and unjust decisions made by the National Council of the NPP regarding a petition by some presidential aspirants, which demanded that the Super Delegates Conference be held at a single location and also allow each delegate to nominate five people instead of one, were at the heart of the reasons given for his resignation.
The Super Delegates Conference, according to Mr. Kyerematen, was purposefully and tactically slanted to favor one particular candidate.
In reply, Mr. Kodua stated: “Article 13(1) (1) of the party’s constitution states that the National Council shall determine the date and location for the presidential primaries; provided, however, that the National Council may, on appropriate occasion, vary the date.”
By voting against the idea of using a single location for the election, the National Council, he insisted, had not broken the law.
To support that assertion, he cited a previous instance from 2014 in which a Special Electoral College election was held in a number of locations without any of the candidates, including Mr. Kyerematen, at the time he filed a petition regarding the location.
In addition, according to Mr. Kodua, Article 13(2) (2) of the party constitution specifies that “where there is more than one contestant, each delegate shall cast his or her vote by secret ballot for one of the contestants.”
Therefore, he declared that the petitioners’ request for delegates to cast their votes for five individuals rather than one was unlawful.
As democratic and open as the party’s leadership had been, according to the NPP General Secretary, a decision on the aspirants’ petition was suggested for the National Council to consider after it was received.
Even more significant, he claimed, was that the petitioners had been given the extremely uncommon chance to address the National Council and argue for the adoption of such a proposal, despite the fact that the majority of them were not National Council members.
“In a true democratic process, 73 members of the National Council voted against both proposals relative to nine others who voted in support, highlighting the
Mr. Kodua also disagreed with Mr. Kyerematen’s claims that a limited number of party elders, officials, and appointments had taken control of the party.
He claimed that historically, the choice of party flag bearers in Ghana has been the exclusive domain of a select few, but in 2010, the NPP made the audacious choice to decentralize the process by enlarging its electoral college to include some 106,590 delegates.
In comparison to the anticipated 1,998 delegates who cast ballots to choose the party’s next flag bearer in 1992, he claimed that now, over 200,000 delegates would be doing so.
“Clearly, the significant increase to 200,000 delegates in 2023 highlights the devolution of power to all party stakeholders and defeats the assertion that the party has been hijacked by a privileged few,” he emphasised.
In response to the claim that Mr. Kyerematen’s supporters had been intimidated, Mr. Kodua said that some government officials, including cabinet members who publicly supported him, were still in their positions and had never been intimidated.
He emphasized that despite certain influential members of the NPP and NDC leaving their respective parties throughout the Fourth Republic to either found new ones or join existing ones, the parent party remained strong.
The party has a message going into the 2024 general election, and we would like to take this occasion to thank Mr. Kyerematen for acknowledging the wonderful work the government had accomplished while he was serving as minister.
Further, he advised party members who had previously supported Mr. Kyerematen because of his affiliation with the party to keep aiding the NPP in its effort to overthrow the eight.
“We will succeed together and we will overcome obstacles together.
We implore all party members to stay devoted, committed, and steadfast in the ongoing limited voter registration exercise.
Together, we will persevere and we will succeed, Mr. Kodua vowed.
