The former Chief of Staff and Minister of Presidential Affairs during President John Agyekum Kufuor’s administration, Kwadwo Okyere Mpiani, has stated that although he did not back the resignation of Alan Kyerematen from the New Patriotic Party (NPP), he is not opposed to the decision.
According to the octogenarian, it’s unfortunate for the party that a stalwart like Mr. Alan Kyerematen has decided to leave the party at the time getting very close to general elections.
“It’s unfortunate but it happens. Unfortunately, I wasn’t consulted but I got to know about it before he came out with his press conference.”
Kwadwo Mpiani
Mr. Mpiani noted that if Mr. Alan Kyerematen had consulted him earlier he would have stuck with him and let him know the pros and cons of the decision he was taking and then try to convince him based on his understanding of the issues to maybe stay in and fight.
He also indicated that even though he did not support Mr Alan Kyeremanten’s resignation he is not opposed to it, but he wouldn’t have advised Mr Kyerematen to resign.
“He’s taken the decision already. He tried to explain his reasons for doing that and there was no way anybody could advise him. I tried to let him know that it would be better to be at the party. But I think he’s gone very far, he’s gone so far that it was difficult convincing him to reverse his decision.”
Kwadwo Mpiani
Mpiani Agrees With Alan’s Claim That NPP Has Been Hijacked
The former Chief of Staff further asserted that Mr. Alan Kyerematen’s claim that the New Patriotic Party has been hijacked by some selected few is not far from the truth.
He recounted that the New Patriotic Party’s problems deepened the very day the party decided to sack its former National Chairman, Paul Afoko and General Secretary, Kwabena Agyapong, which according to him was unconstitutional under the New Patriotic Party’s own rules.
“Unfortunately, some members, including members of the group to which I belong, take pride in this by saying that they were able to remove these people. As soon as the party removed these people, they gave the party to one man who was the candidate at that time, and who is the President at this time, and this is the problem we have in the party which we are not confronting”.
Kwadwo Mpiani
Mr . Mpiani believes failure on the part of the party leadership to confront the problem at hand would result in more problems within the party shortly. According to the former Minister of Presidential Affairs he had spoken to his colleagues on various occasions even at the Council of Elders level that the party must find a way to confront the issues in the party but unfortunately, his effort has not yielded any positive result.
“There have been problems with the party except that those of us in the party are trying to behave like ostriches and not seeing what’s in the party. I was not too much surprised about what happened because I have been telling colleagues that the way the party is going if we are not lucky, there are going to be more serious upheavals in the future.
If we pretend that everything is okay we’re going to regret it in the future. Unfortunately, some people didn’t sort of believe what I was saying, and this is one of the outcomes of what is happening in the party.”
Kwadwo Mpiani
According to former President John Agyekum Kufuor’s right-hand man, unfortunately, the party has become a “sort of club for a few people” within the party where decisions are taken by them, and then all members are supposed to comply with those decisions.
“People are not able to come out openly to protest, but those of us sitting back hear a lot of complaints from a lot of members of the party including even those at the highest echelon of the party. And therefore, some of us know that all is not well within the party.”
Kwadwo Mpiani
The former Chief of Staff and Minister of Presidential Affairs particularly blamed President Akufo-Addo for the New Patriotic Party’s problems, saying the party’s problems began the day its former National Chairman and General Secretary, Paul Afoko and Kwabena Agyapong, were unfairly removed from their roles.
According to Mr Mpiani, many disgruntled party members who have complained about the current state of the party may want to be part of Alan’s train if things do not improve.
He therefore urged the party leadership to reach out to Alan and appeal to him to rejoin the party, adding that he’s willing to lead that conversation if the party requires him to do so. Mr Mpiani believes if the party takes the right steps, it can recover from its current challenges.
The former flagbearer aspirant for New Patriotic Party presidential primaries, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen resigned from the New Patriotic Party on Monday, September 25, 2023, and claimed that the New Patriotic Party has been hijacked by a select few who intimidate those that are in disagreement with them.
READ ALSO: NPP Rejects Alan’s Claim That The Party Has Been Hijacked By Select Few
