After 16 years, why not allow non-Akans to also lead NPP in parliament? – Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu queried

Executive Director for the Media Foundation for West Africa, Sulemana Braimah, says the Majority Leader is only thinking about how to win the next election and not the development of Ghana with his non-Akan argument.

The Majority leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu in an interview on Accra-based Joy News said it will be unwise for the New Patriotic Party to field an Akan as a flagbearer in the 2024 election.

“Inwardly, I know also have the competence but is it wise for me now immediately after two Akans; Kufour had been the president, Akufo-Addo follows from the Eastern Region and there is a third Akan to follow? Doing introspection, I think it may not hold well for a party that is accused by some as being overly Akanistic party. But not everybody agrees with me. And that is the beauty of democracy,” he said.

But reacting to the Majority leader’s position, Sulemana Braimah said it’s imperative that Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu focuses his argument on competence and not on ethnicity because the country needs a leader to march the country forward.

He believes that the argument for someone from the Minority Ethnic groupings is just an urge to winning the presidential seat and not focus on quality material that will lead the country to see the needed development.

“Dear Hon. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, please stop the ethic-based arguments on who deserves to become the Presidential candidate of the NPP for the 2024 elections. If your choice is from the North or Volta, tell us why you think the fellow will be the best to lead the party and potentially the nation. Be preaching to us about competence, leadership qualities, etc that should make one a leader rather than your focus on which part of Ghana the next leader of your party should or shouldn’t be hailing from. We have one Ghana. What we need is competent, selfless, and patriotic leadership, not leadership on the basis of ethnicity or which part of the country a person comes from. Your argument on this matter has been disappointing, to say the least. More than anything else, your arguments reveal your focus on one thing this is killing Ghana – how to win power. It doesn’t matter if Ghana is led by 10 successive Akan or Dagomba leaders."

"And the same should apply to political parties. What matters is leadership qualities and competence that can help make such leaders lead Ghana into prosperity for all. If someone should have those essential qualities, it shouldn’t matter where they come from in Ghana. You are an Akan from Ashanti. You have been a Minority leader for a number of years and a Majority leader for the last four years and continuing. Why have you not given way for someone else from the North or West to lead the NPP in Parliament to help deal with the Akan factor you have been talking about? Let leadership and competence be the guiding principle, not ethnicity.”