Proposal triggers talk of who becomes president or vice
NPP hoping to retain power after 2024 polls
Nana Akomea’s proposal that the governing New Patriotic Party, NPP, should consider a presidential ticket comprising Vice President Mahamamudu Bawumia and Trade Minister Alan Kyerematen, has generated lots of reactions within and outside of the party.
One of the main concerns raised is how the two candidates will settle on who becomes the president and the vice president in the event that the proposal of Akomea, a former NPP Communications Director is taken.
Akomea, currently head of state-run State Transport Company, has explained how a determination of who leads the party and who becomes a running mate should be determined.
He explained extensively on the Good Morning Ghana programme on Metro TV earlier this week that the major political parties have over the year arrived at a balancing act geographically when it comes to their presidential ticket.
“The tradition for the big political parties and also some of the smaller parties is to have a balanced presidential ticket and the history is very clear,” he stated.
He cited how within the NPP, southern flagbearers have traditionally picked northern running mates like the case of Adu Boahene and Roland Alhassan, Kufuor and Aliu Mahama in 2000 and 2004 as well as the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia of 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020.
“So, for the NPP, you’ve seen that there is a tradition of having a geographical balance on the presidential ticket, that has been the history of the party.
“As to who is the candidate and who is the running mate, leave it to the consensus team, because you have to go and horse trade. There used to be some fear, in fact, since the interview last week, there has been a lot of widespread interest in the party on this matter.
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“The calls and messages that I have gotten from stalwarts in the party, it is almost like this is an idea whose time has come … I just happen to express it. But if I showed you the people in the party who sent me messages on this, you would be amazed,” he stated.
Akomea believes because Alan and Bawumia satisfy the North-South or South-North balance, there is a need for the NPP to settle on the two candidates going into the 2024 elections.
Incumbent Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will be exiting office after the 2024 elections and the NPP will be fielding a new presidential candidate possibly against the NDC’s John Dramani Mahama.
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