A Brong-Ahafo candidate will be suitable running mate to Dr. Bawumia - Patriotic Intelligence Network

NPP is at a crossroads, and the current happenings within the party over the selection of a Running Mate could undermine the agenda to break the 8 if care is not taken to remedy it.

The clamour for the number two position has come with its usual manoeuvrings and jostling. Surprisingly, the tensions and divisions within the Ashanti Regional party has reached a crescendo.

This development portends danger for the party as it will likely deepen the woes of the party if lessons are not learnt to guide the choice of the Running Mate.

It's worrying to hear the energetic and youthful members of the party in Ashanti Region who will certainly form the revolutionary team of the campaign threatening boycott if their preferred choice is not selected as Vice Presidential Candidate.

Clearly, the factions created by vested interest groups along personalities like Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, Chairman Wontumi/Dr Osei Adutwum is a big threat to the electoral fortune of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and the party and should not be ignored.

Uncharacteristically, members of the various factions in the Ashanti Region are entrenched in their position that a choice from either camp will deepen the cracks among the grassroots members in the region instead of engendering cohesion and comradeship among Ashanti NPP.

Coming events they say cast their shadows before them; a running mate from Ashanti Region, the bulwark of NPP will potentially chase the Elephant into the bush as the two factions have resolved to work against each other should they lose in their bid. In this circumstance, the party's utmost interest would be served if the Vice Presidential Candidate is chosen outside this Akan group.

It's common knowledge that Ashanti Region is a major stakeholder in the NPP resulting in a significant number of appointments to persons from the region and thus, the number two position is not the only means of expressing NPP's appreciation to the region.

Visibly, Ashanti Region has featured prominently in the current and previous NPP administration and will continue to remain so in any other NPP administration.

Since the inception of President Akufo-Addo's government in 2017, a number of prominent personalities from the region have been appointed to important positions in government. For instance, over ten (10) Cabinet level positions have been occupied by persons from the region.

Specifically, in the first term there were about ten (10) ministries that were assigned to persons from the region. They include the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, Ministry of Youth and Sports, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Ministry of National Security, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Monitoring and Evaluation and the Chief of Staff of the government.

Similarly, in the second term, a sizeable number of people from the Ashanti Region have headed important ministries notably: Ministry of Education, Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Ministry of Works and Housing/Ministry of Roads and Highways, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Chief of Staff.

More so, important state companies and public bureaucracies have been handed to persons from the Ashanti Region as CEOs in light of the region's invaluable contribution to the electoral fortunes of the party. They include Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Ghana National Gas Company Ltd (Ghana Gas), Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB), Electricity Company Ghana Ltd (ECG), Ghana Oil Company Ltd (GOIL), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Forestry Commission, Ghana Airports Company Ltd, Ghana Maritime Authority. Others include Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, National Service Scheme, National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program, Ghana Education Service, Ghana Health Service, Commission for Technical and Vocational Education and Training, Ghana Education Trust Fund, National Communications Authority, National Pensions Regulatory Authority, National Sports Authority, Youth Employment Agency, National Identification Authority, Micro-Finance and Small Loans Center, State Insurance Company Ltd etc. This list is without a recap of the many people serving as Deputy Ministers and Deputy CEO.

A detailed engagements with key stakeholders and social groups and chiefs show the people of Ashanti Region appreciate the developmental record of President Akufo-Addo's government in the area albeit the quest for more.

Nevertheless, certain vested interest groups who desire to accomplish personal political ambitions are deliberately seeking means to force the hand of the Flagbearer into appointing someone from the region without due cognizance of the current development in the region and the fact that Ashanti transcends beyond administrative boundaries.

At this crucial moment, the flagbearer will have to exercise sound discretion and circumspection and settle on a compromise candidate with capacity to mobilize voters nationwide, especially in the eight (8) Akan regions and cooperate with him in government.

Thus, a credible, affable and a young personality from Brong-Ahafo, the home region of Prof. K.A. Busia, with social ties to Eastern or Ashanti will save the party the headache it's currently faced with.