On Monday, September 25, 2023, a founding member and four times flagbearer aspirant for the New Patriotic Party, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen resigned from the party and announced a four-point agenda for his bid to contest the 2024 General Elections as an independent presidential candidate.
He claimed that the New Patriotic Party has been hijacked by a select few who intimidate those who are in disagreement with them, hostility and brutality toward him and his supporters despite all the sacrifices that he had made for the party among others as reasons for his resignation.
It could be recalled that on Tuesday night, September 5 2023, Mr Alan Kyerematen declared his withdrawal from the NPP’s flagbearer election, citing several factors.
He gave several reasons for his choice, including intimidation, violence against a member of his campaign staff, and the way the party allegedly planned the super delegates meeting to favour one candidate over the others.
For most political analysts the resignation of Mr. Alan Kyerematen from the New Patriotic Party was highly predictable especially due to the circumstances that led to his withdrawal from the party’s November 4 presidential primaries.
It is also worth noting that this is not the first time Mr Alan Kyerematen has resigned from the New Patriotic Party. In 2008 after his failed attempt to win the party’s 2007 presidential primaries in the famous Legon Congress in Accra to lead the party for the 2008 General Elections, Mr Kyerematen resigned from the party citing reasons similar to his Monday, September 25 2023 resignation declaration.
The only difference between his 2008 resignation and 2023 resignation is that, while he returned to the party in 2008, this time around Mr. Kyerematen has made a declaration that he will contest as an independent in the 2024 General Elections.
Professor Gyampo, a Political Scientist has indicated that Mr Alan Kyerematen’s decision to resign from the party and contest as an independent candidate in the 2024 General Elections is final and there is no way he is going to rescind such a decision.
Would Mr Kyerematen, a man who has had an extensive and successful professional career in the private and public sectors spanning over 40 years make a case in the 2024 General Elections?
Many political pundits have argued that Mr Alan Kyerematen will need about 5% of votes to push the next election to a runoff.
Even though Mr Kyerematen is known to be very influential in the Asante, Eastern, and Central regions, it is very difficult for Mr Kyerematen to emerge victorious in the 2024 election mainly due to how notorious Ghanaian voters are attached to the duopoly, NPP and NDC.
Again, Mr. Kyerematen’s affiliations to the New Patriotic Party would also undermine his chances to make a great impact in the 2024 General Elections. Many Ghanaians are of the view that the former Trade Minister Alan Kyerematen will not be anything different from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government if he wins the elections as an independent presidential candidate.
For seven years, Mr. Kyerematen served as the key member of President Akuffo Addo’s administration which many Ghanaians believe has created huge economic challenges.
Who Bears The Consequences Of Alan Kyerematen’s Independent Candidate Contest
During the 1979 election, after the Primaries of the United Party (UP), there was division in the party. Ideological friction erupted between the late Mr Victor Owusu and the Late Mr Williams Ofori Atta. These individuals were all part of the UP and they separated to form individual parties, the Popular Front Party (PFP) and the United Convention Party (UNC) respectively.
This division negatively affected the UP, so in the June 1979 election, none of these candidates won the election. These two parties assisted the People’s National Party (PNP) led Dr Hilla Liman to win the election easily. The total votes that Dr Liman used to win the election was way lower than the summation of the two parties’ votes.
The New Patriotic Party is a direct offshoot of the United Party. It is expected to hold its National Delegates Conference on November 4 to elect its flagbearer for the 2024 General Elections. The party is bent on breaking the “8” amidst factionalisms.
Even though Mr Kyerematen’s chances of winning the next election is slimmer, it is also undoubtedly predictable that his independent bid would severely undermine the chances of the New Patriotic Party in the next election.
As the Akans parlance put it ‘due enya wo a ebewo w’ani no yetu asee; yensensene ano‘ to with one cannot sharpen the stick that will pierce his eye, instead, he uproots it.
The New Patriotic Party should remember the unfortunate event of the PFP/UNC factions and learn a great lesson from it. Coming events, they say cast their shadows before them!
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