Electing Dr Bawumia as flagbearer will show NPP is open to all - Professor Sikanku

Respected communications professor and political analyst, Prof. Etse Sikanku has said that electing former former Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, as the NPP's Presidential Candidate for the 2028 elections, represents the best berth for the NPP to send the strongest signal to the nation that the party indeed is a broad-based national coalition, and not just for an exclusive group of people, as is being erroneously portrayed.

In an analysis of the upcoming presidential primaries of the party and the recent tribal comments that have characterised the campaign, the Prof. Sikanku observed that the NPP is at the crossroads, adding that the party needs to demonstrate a broader appeal to all groups across the country, rather than appearing to close up, following recent comments by some senior members of the party in the build up to its Presidential Primaries in January.

In the past weeks, some senior members of the party, including Flagbearer aspirant, Kennedy Agyapong, have suggested that the former Vice President is not fit to lead the party due to his "minority" ethnic background. But the political analyst warned against such posture, pointing out that Bawumia's election as flagbearer, will offer the party the needed lifeline, in the face of growing extinction.

"They need to rebuild, reinvent and re-engineer their party into a broad-based national coalition, open and acceptable to all groups and stripes rather than narrow down, close-up or constrict their outlook. If numbers are the oxygen of elections, then we all know the NPP needs this lifesaver now than ever before," Professor Sikanku wrote.

"Dr Bawumia presents the party with a prime opportunity to embody a more open, more united, more multi-ethnic, more multi-cultural and a more collectivist minded NPP, open to people of all groups, stripes, ethnicity and lineage ready to forge ahead in unity towards a common goal of transforming the nation," it added.

Below is the full article:

Dr BAWUMIA is the difference the NPP actually needs.

The NPP has just come out of a debilitating, embarrassing and absolute shellacking of a presidential election. They need to rebuild, reinvent and re-engineer their party into a broad-based national coalition, open and acceptable to all groups and stripes rather than narrow down, close-up or constrict their outlook. If numbers are the oxygen of elections, then we all know the NPP needs this lifesaver now than ever before.

You may not notice it, but we have just experienced an absolute upheaval and re-calibration of our political landscape in Ghana. Choice is no longer defined by some old, time worn, emotional and sentimental feelings or attachments to tribe but by who represents the best interests of people. For the NPP to remain relevant, it must open-up. People should feel a sense of belonging not alienation from party.

Dr Bawumia presents the party with a prime opportunity to embody a more open, more united, more multi-ethnic, more multi-cultural and a more collectivist minded NPP, open to people of all groups, stripes, ethnicity and lineage ready to forge ahead in unity towards a common goal of transforming the nation. Dr Bawumia represents a great opportunity to send the strongest signal that the party is open to all and ready to embrace anyone irrespective of their tribal or ethnic heritage. This is an invisible blockade the party needs to break. It is time to do away with the politics od tribalism and division and embrace the politics of unity, diversity and harmony which will take Africa to the next level.

By electing a truly competent and experienced candidate from a non-majority group, the NPP will be sending the strongest signal that it is truly open and ready to become a real, mass based, nationally oriented party ready to embrace Ghanaians of all stripes. Of course, this selection should be based on merit and whoever has the best solutions to transform the nation or take it to the next level. A candidate with empathy, care, sensitivity to the plight of the everyday Ghanaian and a realistic roadmap for national transformation. The party must recognize that above all, it’s appeal to Ghanaians will be defined primarily by how their ability to proffer solutions to the plight, problems and needs of Ghanaians. Culture and ethnicity must be celebrated not denigrated. Appreciating each other’s heritage, ethnic diversity and cross cultural values can foster understanding, empathy and unite people towards a common cause, promote peace and enhance development.

  And if there is anything the party needs more than ever, it is to shed off the tag (real or perceived) that they are an Akan based party. We are all aware this is a tag the party has struggled to shed over the years. This nation has changed. Politics has changed. And the earlier the NPP wakes up to the idea that people are choosing leaders based on who represents their best interests rather than which festival they celebrate together or ethnic ancestor they have in common, the better. The party's fidelity must be to equality, what binds people together as a nation and a set of beliefs that will transform the nation and not a fixation on what separates us.