A pro-New Patriotic Party (NPP) group known as the Patriotic Movement for Bawumia, based in the Ashanti Region, has petitioned the campaign secretariat of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia in the Ashanti Region and the National Council of the Party to reject the nomination of Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh as the running mate by the party’s flagbearer.
According to the group, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh lacks the credibility to facilitate the party’s victory in the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections.
The group, which stormed Dr. Bawumia’s Ashanti campaign coordination office with placards, accused some national executives, constituency members, and ministers of state of allegedly selling the NPP’s running mate slot to the highest bidder, against the will of the party’s grassroots.
Addressing the media after presenting their petition to the Ashanti Regional Communication Officer, Paul Kwabena Yandoh, at Dr. Bawumia’s office in Kumasi, Ebenezer Nyamekye said, “We are the Patriotic Movement for Bawumia in the Ashanti Region. We are made up of representatives from all 47 constituencies of the Ashanti Region. As grassroots members of the party, we believe the choice of Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh as running mate to Bawumia is a bad decision for the NPP.”
He explained, “Dr. Bawumia is a Muslim, who is in the minority. There was a need for the party to select a recognized Christian to provide religious balance and address the perception that some Christian majorities have against Muslims. Secondly, everybody in this country knows that the Manhyia South MP, NAPO, is perceived as very disrespectful, and Ghanaians will have a lot to say about him. Let’s be honest here, if NAPO speaks for 5 minutes on radio or on a campaign platform, it takes the party three months to clean up his mess. This is not the kind of running mate we need at this time.”
The group, led by Ebenezer Nyamekye, is therefore calling on the National Council of the party, the final decision-maker of the party, to reject the nomination of the Manhyia South Constituency Member of Parliament.
“Since the establishment of the NPP, I have never seen a lobbyist as desperate as NAPO. If the party wants us, the grassroots, to campaign with Dr. Bawumia, they should get us a credible person, or they should forget about the elections. Some NPP MPs in Parliament are alleging that NAPO sponsored some individuals to unseat them, and they failed. Unfortunately, some MPs, we are told, lost their seats. This is a problem. Do you think NAPO can work with these MPs?”
The Ashanti Regional Communications Director of the party, Paul Kwabena Yandoh, who received the petition, assured the group that their petition would be sent to the appropriate office.
“Thank you for your peaceful protest and for not adopting violence to express your disapproval of the flagbearer’s nomination of NAPO as running mate. I will send the petition to the appropriate office for attention.”
Kasapafmonline.com
