The Head of the Department of Psychology at the University of Ghana, Prof. Joseph Osafo, has urged the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) to avoid tribal considerations and choose a competent person to lead the party for the 2024 elections.
He said choosing a competent flagbearer is essential to ensure that the party’s dream of winning power for an unprecedented third successive term becomes a reality.
Speaking in a Peace FM interview monitored by GhanaWeb, Prof Osafo added that the ability of the party to unite after its presidential primaries is essential to ensuring that its “Break the Eight” mantra becomes a reality.
“The NPP said they will be 'Breaking the Eight’, while we wish them well, we also urge them to be careful so the internal elections they will be having soon will not break them apart.
“I think that the internal election they will be having should be about who has what and not about who is who. They should not use ethnicity to define what the person (the flagbearer of the party) can do, but should judge what the person brings on board.
“The delegate should vote for a person who can really help the party because Breaking the 8 should not just be a lip service mantra,” he said in Twi.
There has been some tension within the ranks of the NPP after some leading members of the party indicated their support for either Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia or Trade and Industry Minister Alan Kyerematen.
A recent comment made by the immediate past NPP Parliamentary Candidate for Kpone-Katamanso Constituency, Hopeson Yaovi Adorye, who has indicated his support for Alan Kyerematen, was interpreted to mean members of the party from the northern part of the country can only be presidential running mates and not flagbearers of the party.
Leading contenders in NPP's flagbearership race