A leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Wenchi constituency, a stronghold of the party in the Bono Region, has underlined the need for the NPP to pick and pair Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh with Alhaji Dr Mahamaudu Bawumia, the NPP flagbearer, as the Election 2024 electioneering campaign gathers momentum.
This will not only enhance the political fortunes of the party, but also widen the votes of the NPP in the next General Election.
According to Mr Richard Kwadwo Adu, the current Energy Minister, popularly known in the political space as “NAPO” and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Manhyia South, was the best to pair the Vice President Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, if the NPP was ready to break the eight and retain political power in 2024.
“In fact, time is limited and we need not to sell or market somebody like Dr Opoku Prempeh because he has already built his popularity and image and Ghanaians in general would accept him”, he stated.
The NPP went to polls on Saturday November 4, 2023, successfully cleared a political hurdle, and elected the Vice President Alhaji Dr Bawumia as the party’s 2024 flagbearer, an election political pollsters and analysts described as peaceful and credible in the history of the “great elephant family”.
However, the ruling NPP is yet to decide on the best choice to pair the Vice President to be able to achieve the party’s touted ‘break eight mantra”.
Speaking in an interview with the media in Wenchi on the aftermath of the NPP’s Presidential Primaries, Mr Adu, a former Wenchi Constituency Youth Organiser of the party, said “besides his charisma, the Energy Minister has all the traits to pair the Vice President for the to garner the votes of Ghanaian electorate”.
Describing the Ashanti as the “World Bank” of the NPP in terms of voting patterns, Mr Adu, who was one of the aspirant in the Wenchi constituency chairmanship race, said “with the endorsement of Alhaji Dr Bawumia, the NPP has no option than to pick the choice of running mate from the region”.
“Everybody in our party will agree with me that NAPO has really distinguished himself in body politics. You can’t see or say anything evil about him, and his sense of political maturity, civility, humility, and credentials are glaring for all to see”.
“I believe he is the best choice and a good pair, if the NPP can match and silence the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2024 General Election”, Mr Adu, also a former Assemblyman for the Ntoase Electoral Area in the Wenchi Municipality stated.
While congratulating the Vice President Alhaji Dr Bawumia for his election to lead the party in the Election 2024, he praised Mr Kennedy Agyapong, one of the candidates in the party’s just ended presidential primaries for what he described as his outstanding performance in the primaries.
Mr Adu also commended the police, Electoral Commission (EC), the constituency, regional and national executives of the NPP for a peace, credible and successful elections, and lauded the comportment and the high sense of political maturity and civility exhibited by the entire NPP delegates and the party people.
He indicated though the NPP’s presidential primaries was successful, the task ahead of the party in going for the Election 2024 was still herculous because the party needed to resolve factionalism and petty squabbles as well as certain internal wrangling that characterised the presidential primaries in many of the constituencies, including Wenchi.
“The NPP requires a reconciliation committee, because if we leave these internal party challenges unresolved, it will be politically suicidal for the NPP in the next general election”, Mr Adu added, and therefore, called on the national leadership of the party to act, and tackle the party problems proactively.