NPP flagbearer aspirants not enemies - Tema MCE

The Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive, Yohane Amarh Ashitey, has reminded supporters of leading personalities who will vie for the 2024 presidential ticket of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) that their icons are only in a family contest.

In a write-up on social media over the weekend, Amarh Ashitey, therefore, urged them to eschew any negative lines of campaigning or provocative rhetoric that could inflame passions in the party.

“At the end of the day, whether Hon. Kennedy Agyapong, Mr. Akoto Osei, Hon. Alan Kyeremanten or H.E. Dr. Bawumia wins to become the next leader of the party, we all have a responsibility to keep the party in one piece and continue to make it attractive.

“Therefore, as we gear up towards the presidential primary to elect our next leader, every Alan supporter must remember that he is a sister or a brother to every Bawumia supporter, likewise supporters of other aspirants – they are all siblings under one mother called the New Patriotic Party,” Hon. Yohane Amarh Ashitey stated.

The MCE’s statement comes in the aftermath of the official announcement by recently resigned Trade Minister, Alan Kyeremanten that he is indeed going to contest for the 2024 presidential ticket of the party.

Mr. Kyeremanten who had thrown the Akufo-Addo government into a stutter with his sudden resignation a week earlier had confirmed intent to contest for the leadership of the party at a press conference broadcast nationwide.

“I wish to use this platform to formally announce my decision to contest the flagbearership of the New Patriotic Party when the Party officially opens nominations for that purpose,” he said.

For many pundits and indeed lovers of the NPP, Alan’s declaration was the beginning of a serious test that the NPP must now face in order to transition from the leadership of president Akufo-Addo to a new one.

Many are afraid that the contest between Dr. Bawumia, who is seen to be backed by President Akufo-Addo and the Akyem bloc in the NPP and Alan Kyeremanten, who is seen to be backed by the Ashanti bloc is a contest for the soul of the party that could end up bloodily because of the passions of their supporters and members of their camps.But according to the Tema Mayor, “all the flagbearer aspirants are good people and no one of these leading gentlemen of the party is bigger than the party and so whether you are for Alan or Bawumia, you are first for the NPP and therefore are responsible for its internal peace and wellbeing.

"May the Lord Almighty God watch over the NPP and bless us to put our detractors to shame,” Hon. Yohane Amarh Ashitey, who is seen by many as a God-fearing politician, wrote.