NAPO is not ready to occupy the office of Vice President – Political Analyst

A political analyst and lecturer at the University of Cape Coast, Dr. Jonathan Asante Otchere believes Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, running mate to the New Patriotic Party(NPP) flagbearer is not fully baked to ascend to the office of Vice President of Ghana.

According to him, Dr. Opoku Prempeh popularly known as NAPO has not yet realized that his portfolio has changed for which reason he should know how to conduct himself publicly, especially in his utterances.

Dr. Opoku Prempeh the outgoing Minister for Energy has been described as arrogant by a section of the public, but his supporters have rejected that tag on him, describing him rather as an assertive person.

He came under a barrage of criticisms after he asserted during his unveiling as running mate in Kumasi on Tuesday that no president, including Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, has developed Ghana like President Akufo-Addo has done since 2017.

“Since independence from 1957 till today, we have not had any president that has helped Ghana like Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. I say from 1957 till today, you can bring your Kwame Nkrumah… no president has protected Ghana and moved the country forward like Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo,” NAPO said to thunderous applause.

But commenting on the issue in an interview on Ghana Kasa on Kasapa 102.5FM Wednesday, Dr. Asante Otchere said a lot of work will be required to be done on NAPO’s public conduct to make him fit for the high office.

“Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh is not ready to occupy the second highest of the land. During his speech at his unveiling, he demonstrated that he’s not on top of his brief. He was just shouting at the top of his voice, that’s all he was doing. If you compare his unveiling to that of NDC running mate, Prof. Naana Opoku Agyemang, you realize that hers was better. In terms of the finesse, the arrangement, the speech delivery were way better than that of Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh. His unwarranted comparison of Akufo-Addo to Nkrumah has taken the shine off the event.”

He added: “Napo’s arrogance was on full display during his unveiling. He must be very careful with the way he speaks in public, he should have known that he was not addressing only NPP supporters but Ghanaians. He is not ready for that office, he has still not realized that his portfolio has changed for which reason he should know how to conduct himself.”