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. Mahamadu Bawumia in the Ashanti region and the National Council of the Party to reject the nomination of Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh as the running mate by the flagbearer of the party.
According to the group, Dr. Mathew 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 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 a Patriotic Movement for Bawumia in the Ashanti region. We are made up of representatives from all the 47 constituencies of the Ashanti region. As grassroots members of the party, the choice of Dr. Mathew 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 a very disrespectful person, 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 3 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 desperate lobbyist like NAPO before. 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 to unseat them. 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 by 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.”
