Felix Kwakye Ofosu, a former Deputy Minister of Communications, has said that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as President will be detrimental for the economy of Ghana.
He claimed that because Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is terrible news for the Ghanaian economy, no Ghanaian who wants to see the country advance and wants to see the economy get back on track, will wish him luck in the future elections.
He further stated that this presented a challenge for him because he had no authority to dictate how the New Patriotic Party (NPP) should organize its internal affairs.
“I have said here that I expect that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia will win the Super Delegates Conference. But perhaps, it may be a closer contest than previous primaries that they’ve held. It is not difficult to see why the NPP in terms of its Super Delegates Conference, has many of the people who are going to take part in that as close to the establishment. This is crème de la crème of the NPP.
“And they are the people who have occupied positions or have been close to the center of power since NPP came to power in 2017. And I doubt that they would want to rock the boat or would want to give an impression that they do not support the establishment candidate who clearly is Alhaji Bawumia. And so, if you vote for him, I would not be surprised because it will be nothing out of the ordinary. I also expect the NPP wider delegates base to vote for him. At the very least, he’s Vice President, it makes sense really to represent the one who is closest to power.”
Felix Kwakye Ofosu
He added that because Bawumia is already a well-known figure, voting for him in the Super Delegates Conference would undoubtedly reduce the expense and effort expended on marketing the candidate.
However, Mr. Kwakye Ofosu claimed that many people will support Dr. Bawumia politically and for electoral purposes, not because he brings something particularly noteworthy to the job. He added that while he thought Bawumia would win the Conference, he anticipated the Vice President to perform poorly in the 2024 general elections.
He stressed that despite Vice President Bawumia being a front-runner in the NPP’s internal elections, he is also the party’s weakest link in terms of its effort to retain power in 2024, due to the poor performance he displayed while serving in that position.
“Every Ghanaian will bear witness that he led to a large extent, the NPP discourse on the management of the economy without question”, he opined.
Super Delegates Conference Is A Knee Jerk Response
Felix Kwakye Ofosu further asserted that the Super Delegates Conference as a whole, is a hasty reaction to criticisms that the NPP faced in 2007 when roughly 17 persons showed up to run for President.
“In my candid view, they could just have gone ahead and held the Presidential primaries and open it up to the larger delegates. Because its only 10 people on the ballot box.
“I don’t think that the delegates of the NPP would be so naïve as to not be able to determine who they want to pick out of 10 people, such that some elite in the party has to constitute themselves into a group of super delegates to go and determine for those at the grassroots, what 5 people they should select their Presidential candidate from.”
Felix Kwakye Ofosu
Then again, he said that although it was the party’s problem, it might have been prevented if the discussion had been had immediately. Regarding flagbearer hopefuls campaign itself, he said that in comparison to earlier efforts, it had all fallen short in terms of its capacity to pique Ghanaians’ interest.
“You find that not much interest is being shown by the people of Ghana in the primaries. And one would be pardoned for even forgetting that such a contest is on, except that once in a while, you get dispatches, you get images and videos and sound bites of the campaign.
“It has been less acrimonious of course, than previous campaigns. But in terms of substance, I’m really yet to see anybody who is wowing the electorates with any new policy paths, with any new direction for the party itself and this country.”
Felix Kwakye Ofosu
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