Alan vs. Bawumia: NPP should pick a neutral flagbearer for 2024 – Ben Ephson

The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) should avoid the two major ‘contenders’ for the 2024 flagbearership race as per public opinion and media reports.

This is the view of pollster and journalist Ben Ephson who also disclosed that a former Railways Minister had been denied a ministerial appointment because he openly declared his presidential ambitions.

GhanaWeb monitored his submissions on Joy Prime’s Beyond the Headlines programme which aired on Tuesday, April 20, 2021.

Ephson held that choosing a candidate other than Vice President Mahamadu Bawumia and Trade Minister Alan Kyerematen would be in the best interest of the party, citing the dicey nature of their respective candidacies.

On the subject of a minister who was denied appointment over his presidential ambitions, he said: “I know for a fact that Joe Ghartey was not reappointed because he had come out to say that when nominations open for 2024, he will be interested. So obviously, he was put down.”

The NPP has been engulfed by preemptive campaigns by supposed flagbearer hopefuls with the Vice President and Trade Minister being frontliners.

A development that has also brought to the fore issues of the ethnicity of the next flagbearer.

Top party members recently lashed out at each other over the now-famous “non-Akan” comment made by the Minority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu.

The party has officially asked all such campaigns to cease to focus on delivering the second term mandate of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

It has threatened to sanction members engaged in such campaigns even though Ben Ephson says it will be difficult to know if indeed a particular candidate is behind banners and posters that have popped up on social media and in some parts of the country.

The VP’s office weeks back formally denied that he had sanctioned any campaigns in his name.