The President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has warned he will deal with ministers who will allow their ambition of becoming flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to override the interest of the state without fear or favor.
At least three names have been making rounds in the circles of the party as people who have either openly or subtly shown interest in leading the NPP into the 2024 presidential elections.
People close to the Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Trade and Industry Minister Alan Kyeremanten, and Food and Agriculture Minister, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto have ceased moments to campaign on their behalf, positioning them in the minds of the party delegates as well as Ghanaians at large.
So far, none of the above have issued any public statement discounting and distancing themselves from the people who are carrying out such campaigns.
But responding to a question on Accra-based Peace FM on Thursday October 21, 2021, President Akufo-Addo said, “I have no evidence that peoples’ ambitions are interfering with the work that there are doing”.
He observed that the only thing he can notice about his ministers is people who are working “strongly” for the country, adding that if there was any one whose interest of becoming flagbearer of the NPP is interfering with his obligations, he will not hesitate to act.
“Assuming that because of someone’s ambition, he puts his portfolio aside; if it happens that way, obviously the president cannot be unconcerned. I’ve been in this position before; I was a minister in President Kufour’s government. [I was] Foreign Minister at the time that the bell was sounded and I had to comport myself accordingly.”
The president has therefore charged the leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to ensure that processes leading to the selection of a flagbearer for the 2024 election are free, fair and transparent.
“There are two issues that matter to me; that we [NPP] should have a transparent, credible acceptable process for choosing our next flagbearer. That as I came out of such a process, it should be my responsibility that the process of choosing the next leader of the NPP is equally free of doubt, machination or manipulating”
“And I’m hoping that a level playing field that allows us to elect our next presidential candidate will also bring us a candidate who can unite our party. Because competition will always bring some divisions in the party but we are the ruling party so there is a responsibility on us to conduct ourselves well.”
