Technical advisor at the Office of the Vice President, Dr Tiah Abdul-Kabiru Mahama, has expressed the need for the rank and file of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) not to treat the former member of the party, Alan Kyerematen, as an outcast.
According to him, although Mr Kyerematen has exited the party, he has every right to do so, albeit the manner in which he left is quite unfortunate.
He revealed that one’s membership to any association is usually based on the “law of two feet”. By this, he explained that if a member of any organization is neither contributing nor learning, “you take your two feet away”.
To that extent, Dr Mahama stated that if anyone wants to exit any political party, in the nature Mr Alan Kyerematen did, the decision must be respected.
“The fact that Mr Alan Kyerematen is no more with the NPP does not mean that we should treat him like an outcast. Of course, it’s quite unfortunate that if you’re exiting a political family like the NPP and you would want to exit with honor, you have to state your reasons without any form of antagonism – to suggest that the very party that made you the person you are, you’re exiting it in a very rancorous manner. That is the thing we wanted to avoid in this whole discourse…”
Dr Tiah Abdul-Kabiru Mahama
Further justifying his point, Dr Mahama noted that if indeed Mr Kyerematen still felt he had some contribution to make to the NPP, despite his concerns, he would have remained. As such, he indicated that the choice of symbols, logos and slogans to pursue the agenda determined by Mr Kyerematen is of least concern to the NPP.
“All what we need to do is focus on what we can do differently under the circumstances. I have enormous amount of respect for Mr Alan Kyerematen because of how he has carried himself, but this decision I think that it’s the most unfortunate, and we would leave him to that decision.”
Dr Tiah Abdul-Kabiru Mahama
Dr Mahama equally stated that the exit of the former trades minister feels like the “end of an era”. With this, he highlighted that many people after some few months will forget about Mr Kyerematen because the “duopoly” in politics he mentioned has come to stay.
“In fact, the creation of political parties is not in any way at variance with the constitution, to the extent that someone will argue that national interest supersedes party interest…”
Dr Tiah Abdul-Kabiru Mahama
Impact of Kyerematen’s exit from NPP
Commenting on the impact of Mr Kyerematen’s exit on the fortunes of the NPP, Dr Mahama revealed that it may not necessarily have an overwhelming impact on the party.
Citing the case of the opposition NDC, he stated that the NDP which was an offshoot of the NDC in 2010, despite its separation from the party, NDC still won during the 2012 elections.
“So, for me, a lot of things will come into the analysis. Even if you lose a single member, as a member of the NPP, you’ll be concerned that a single member is leaving our fold…So, we are concerned about that, but we are of the view that the NPP has gone through much more turbulent situation and has weathered the storm and come out successfully.”
Dr Tiah Abdul-Kabiru Mahama
Moreover, Dr Mahama indicated that the NPP during the 2016 election, equally had to take a very difficult decision of suspending the party’s chairman and general secretary and went ahead and won the election.
He expressed that people at the time felt it was a very unpopular decision, and reckoned it was going to be the “final nail on the coffin” of the NPP, although the party won the election.
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