Aspirants Face Prez Kufuor Today

The President, John Agyekum Kufuor, is expected to hold discussions with the score of aspirants in the New Patriotic Party flagbearership race at noon today at the Castle, Osu, Castle sources have disclosed to The Statesman.

The meeting, also to be attended by some elders of the party, will focus on three main issues: keeping the campaign clean, ensuring party unity after the December 22 National Congress, and growing demands for the president's neutrality in the ongoing race, according to information available to The Statesman.

Although some aspirants were reportedly pushing for the meeting to be held at Australia House, seen as a 'neutral ground,' the Castle was chosen because of its convenience, a source told this paper.

Some party officials The Statesman spoke to expressed doubt on what the meeting can achieve unless the participants speak with extreme frankness. Checks made by The Statesman indicate that overwhelming majority of the aspirants are doubtful of the President's own sincerity on the neutrality matter.

Though the Castle is expecting all aspirants to be at this crunch meeting, some are said to be reluctant to cut short their country-wide tours for the Accra encounter. This meeting comes just days after the aspirants, with the exception of Vice President Aliu Mahama and Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, addressed a rally at Asamankese to climax the Eastern Region's celebration of the NPP's 15th anniversary. Addressing party faithful at the rally, President Kufuor described the contest as a "brotherly affair.? The concern now, however, is how to cure the contest from the Josephian syndrome that seems to have afflicted it.