Member of parliament for Tamale Central, Murtala Mohammed, has taken a swipe at some flagbearer aspirants of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), insisting that no amount of Arabian perfume can clean the mess they have contributed to the country.
According to him, persons such as Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and former trades minister, Alan Kyerematen, who are contesting for the NPP flagbearership position have contributed to the hardships, by virtue of the vital positions they occupied in the country. In light of this, he stated that voters must be guarded in making the right choice when it comes to electing a President in 2024.
“Ken made a famous statement, which for me, people downplayed… He said that all those who have contributed to the mess of this country should not be elected. I’ve seen that there is an attempt to claim certain individuals but let me state, no amount of perfume from Arabia can clean any of them. They have created this mess…
“I am told the minister for Agric hates Dr Bawumia to the marrow. He accuses his father of treating his father in a way and I know for a fact that the Vice President invited the minister for agric on countless times to sit to discuss issues on agric, but he refused because his father betrayed his father and ensured that the Nkrumah’s administration dealt with his father – that’s the internal wrangling…”
Murtala Mohammed
Mr Mohammed revealed that the 2024 election is going to be contested on the basis of the living conditions of the people in the country. He highlighted that the three candidates have participated in taking the debt to GDP of the country from a little over 60% under former President Mahama’s administration to over 100%, emphasizing the need for Ghanaians not to vote for them.
“They have participated in taking the cedi from GHC3.50p to GHC12 today… It is only under this government that frankly, the Afrobarometer described this government as the most corrupt government ever…”
Murtala Mohammed
On his part, member of parliament for Mpraeso, Davis Ansah Opoku, emphatically expressed his conviction in the competence of Alan Kyerematen with regards to the party’s Super Delegates Conference taking off this Saturday, August 26, 2023. He noted that the five persons selected, will be based on the decision by the delegates.
“I’m for Alan Kyerematen and on Saturday I will vote for Alan Kyerematen. My worry is that people seem to be creating a lot of noise about this super delegates. Super delegates, if you look at the Electoral College, that’s just 0.04% of the college that will elect the flagbearer of the party on November 4.
“In the wisdom of the party, coming out of the 2007, we felt that we needed to prune down the number to five. So, this is just an administrative process. I’ve seen a lot of energies, people wanting to score 90%… At the end of the day, five people will be selected and presented to the polling station officers.”
Davis Ansah Opoku
NPP’s super delegates conference
Furthermore, Mr Opoku highlighted that although the delegates conference plays an important role in the selection of a flagbearer for the party, the Electoral College, which has over 210, 000 people, as against the 900 people who are going to vote on Saturday, matters. Nonetheless, he indicated that one cannot also overrule the influence of the 900 people going to vote in this particular internal election.
“I was telling somebody this morning that if the electoral college that was going to select the five people on Saturday, were the same people that were supposed to elect the general secretary of the party, and also the national chairman of the party, Stephen Ntim and Justin Koduah would not have won… So, the party has its own way of speaking – this is a party that has very strong spirit, if the party feels that it is your time to lead the party, it is not what the top thinks.”
Davis Ansah Opoku
Moreover, the Mpraeso legislator revealed that he is not “too worried” about the outcome of Saturday’s elections and is convinced that Alan Kyerematen, along with Kennedy Agyapong and Dr Bawumia will sail through. However, he pointed out that the real deal is how the party’s polling station executives are also feeling on the ground.
“I’ve gone around the country, I’ve been campaigning, listening to what people are saying and people are not happy. The last time, a polling station officer in my constituency reminded me what happened in year 2000 when Kufuor wanted to be President – a song that resonated was the ‘hw3 wasetena mu na tu aba pa’, that’s what the polling station executives are saying… People are going to look at their welfare – ever since the party came, the opportunities they have gotten, and more especially, the winnability of the various candidates that we submit to them.”
Davis Ansah Opoku
