Public conversations on the choice of running mate for the New Patriotic Party has intensified nearly few days after the party elected the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia as its flagbearer for the 2024 general elections.
The board chairman for the Public Procurement Authority and a leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Professor Ameyaw Akumfi has advised the New Patriotic Party and the flagbearer, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia to consider other significant factors for the selection of the party’s running mate for the 2024 general elections.
The former Minister of Education under President John Agyekum Kufour’s administration admonished the New Patriotic Party to not only consider the Ashanti region in the choice and selection of its running mate for the 2024 general elections.
“We should allow the flagbearer to conduct his search, while, of course, consulting. However, we need to focus on securing votes, and therefore, let’s evaluate individuals based on their merits. I don’t want us to insist that the running mate must come from a specific region. For instance, have the Nalerigu to Cheriponi roads been asphalted simply because we have a vice president from that part of the country? Gaining Ashanti votes is not solely dependent on having an Ashanti running mate; it’s about delivering for Ashantis”.
Professor Ameyaw Akumfi
NPP Urged To Prioritize Securing Votes In The Choice of Running Mate Than Ethnicity
Furthermore, Professor Ameyaw Akumfi urged the New Patriotic Party and the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia to consider a candidate that has the capacity and the competence to add more value to the party’s chances of winning the 2024 general elections.
He noted that the New Patriotic Party’s greatest concern in the choice of the running mate for its Flagbearer, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia should be how the choice of the running mate will help the party to secure more votes in the 2024 general elections.
According to him, the Vice President must equally be allowed to conduct his independent assessment and research on the choice of his running mate ahead of the 2024 general elections.
“Given the current circumstances, we should choose someone who can help us secure votes, and that is our top priority at this moment”.
Professor Ameyaw Akumfi
Meanwhile, the Member of Parliament for Kwadaso Constituency in the Ashanti Region, Kingsley Nyarko has urged the New Patriotic Party to give higher consideration to the Ashanti Region in the choice and selection of its running mate to the Vice President and the party’s flagbearer, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.
According to the lawmaker, the Ashanti Region would play a significant role in the New Patriotic Party’s chances of winning the 2024 general elections hence the decision to choose the party’s running mate from the region could be highly beneficial to the party.
“There are a lot of competent personalities from the region so I don’t think that it is out of place to get someone from there. He [Dr Bawumia] can decide to choose the running mate from any other region but I think that a running mate from the Ashanti region will be a step in the right direction”.
Kingsley Nyarko
The New Patriotic Party on Saturday, November 4 2023 elected the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as its flagbearer for the 2024 general elections.
The names that have surfaced so far for the running mate to partner with the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia include; Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the Minister for Energy, Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei Owusu, Ursula Owusu Ekuful, Minister of Communications and Digitization and Education Minister, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum.
There are also rumours that the New Patriotic Party is considering the former Chairman of the Church of Pentecost, Ghana, Professor Opoku Onyinah to partner with the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia for the 2024 general elections.
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