NAPO's outdooring ceremony was too political - CENPOA Director

The Executive Director of the Centre for Public Opinion and Awareness, Michael Donyina Mensah, says the organization of the official outdooring ceremony of running mate Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh could have been better.

He stated that the organization of the ceremony was politicized and failed to give the former Energy Minister a nationalistic speech.

He believes the party should have organized the event in a way that would have allowed chiefs, opinion leaders, business professionals, and other stakeholders to participate in the outdooring ceremony.

He said the way the program was organized limited the running mate to the kind of issues he raised.

In an interview with Kwabena Agyapong on Frontline on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM, he stated that the party should have organized the event in an official manner so that the running mate could address critical national issues.

“One of the concerns we had was the nature of the event and the platform used in outdooring the running mate. The event should have been formal, with an invitation extended to religious leaders, business groups, and civil society organizations, among others.

"The way the event was organized as a rally did not give NAPO a formal space to read a scripted speech and what he was being onboard to support the presidential candidate.

"Only Dr. Bawumia knows what he saw in him before settling on him, but NAPO should have used the opportunity to market himself, citing his experience, credentials, and what he intends to do to support the candidate in managing the country.”

"However, the nature of the event and how it was organized failed to highlight all these issues. Ghanaians cannot judge the legitimacy of NAPO because he failed to highlight key policies of national interest.

"He was at a rally and took a swipe at a former leader. You’ve been a former minister, but we should know about your conviction and tell Ghanaians your ideology. People have also accused him of being arrogant, and he should have used the opportunity to market himself and dispel that assertion.

"He failed to do that. The other point is that describing President Akufo-Addo as a superior president to Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was a needless comment and could affect the party,” he said.

He noted that NAPO has the right to say that, but the mode of delivery was a bit problematic.

“It was purely political, but it does not represent the truth. This is not the first time the party is making such comments,” he said.