According to various news websites, the Member of Parliament and Minister of Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye claims that, “he will choose Akufo-Addo over Kufuor as the best President the NPP has ever produced”.
It is very unfortunate for Asenso-Boakye to make such a loose assumption, assessment, and statement. In the first place, available Data and facts do not support this childish comparison between Former President Kufuor and President Akufo-Addo.
Asenso-Boakye is entitled to his opinion and preferences, but for him to state that President Akufo-Addo is the best President the NPP has ever produced is completely gibberish and balderdash.
First and foremost, let me educate Asenso-Boakye about these facts:
Kufuor became President of the Republic of Ghana NOT based on the records of Nana Akufo-Addo. However, Nana Akufo-Addo became President of the Republic of Ghana largely based on the successful records of Kufuor’s government.
Ghanaians gave the mandate to President Akufo-Addo largely due to the excellent performance of Kufuor’s Government.
Under the 4th Republican Constitution, Kufuor’s Government set the pace for the growth and widely acceptability of NPP by the Ghanaian people.
John Agyekum Kufuor took NPP’s 30.29% Presidential votes in 1992 coupled with Zero(0) Seats in Parliament to 39.60% Presidential votes and 63 Parliamentary Seats in 1996.
In the 2000 elections, Kufuor increased NPP’s Presidential votes to 48% during first round of voting and subsequently 56.90% in the run-off, winning 134 Constituencies out of the total 200 Constituencies,an unprecedented record yet to be achieved by any Presidential Candidate in Ghana.
Kufuor also won 99 majority Parliamentary Seats for NPP for the first time since 1992. NDC had 92 Parliamentary Seats in 2000.
It took Former President Kufuor to end the 19 years of Political Dominance of PNDC/NDC in Ghana. It was this man Kufuor, who took the UP Tradition from 30 years in opposition to attain political power.
Kufuor again beat the NDC in the 2004 general election with 52.45% Presidential votes and 128 Parliamentary Seats.
The Parliamentary performance of NPP kept increasing under John Agyekum Kufuor.
President Akufo-Addo’s first experience in serving in Government as a Minister happened under the leadership of Former President Kufuor.
Moving away from the electoral records to performance of Government;
What was the rate of 1 dollar to the Cedi in 2008 under Kufuor, and what is the rate of the dollar to the Cedi in 2024 under Akufo-Addo?
You may argue with the impact of COVID-19 and Russia-Ukraine War but you need to understand and appreciate the fact that, the impact of 2007-2008 Global Financial Crisis far far outweighs COVID-19 and Russia-Ukraine War.
The 2007-2008 Global Financial Crisis(GFC) was the most severe worldwide economic crisis since the Great Depression.
How many taxes were imposed on Ghanaians in 2001 and 2008 under Kufuor and how many taxes have been imposed on Ghanaians under Akufo-Addo between just 2021 to 2024 including senseless VAT on electricity and Emission Tax? More than 22 taxes have been imposed by Ken Ofori-Atta on Ghanaians, which, if we not careful it will send the NPP into opposition on 7th December, 2024.
Was there a Debt Exchange Programme including DDEP in 2007-2008 under Kufuor in spite of the Global Financial Crisis?
Do you know how unpopular the NPP has become to Pensioners and bondholders because of the Government’s Domestic Debt Exchange Programme(DDEP)?
Through Kufuor’s Golden Age of Business, several Businesspersons and Entrepreneurs were Flourishing including but not limited to Ibrahim Mahama, Dr. Joseph Siaw Agyepong, Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom, Dr. Kwabena Duffuor, Ernesto Taricone’s, Prince Kofi Amoabeng, Dr. Osei Kwame Despite, Dr. Ernest Ofori Sarpong, Dr. Kwame Kyei, Kwasi Oppong, Nana K. Gyasi, Kwabena Kesse and several others not mentioned here.
From 2017 until now, what has been the business situations for the Businesspersons and Entrepreneurs in Ghana under Akufo-Addo’s Government?
NPP was the darling boy of the business community under Kufuor but can we confidently say so under today’s NPP? How many Businesspersons and Entrepreneurs are Flourishing under Akufo-Addo’s Government?
What were the inflation trends from 2005 to 2008 and what has been the inflation trends from 2021 to 2024?
Recognizing the importance of Ashanti Votes, Kufuor gave 3 Interchanges to Ashanti Region including Asokwa, Asafo and Sofoline. How many Interchanges has Akufo-Addo’s Government provided for the people of Ashanti Region from 2017 to 2024?
If it about free SHS, Kufuor also gave Free Maternal Healthcare Delivery.
If I continue writing, it will hurt NPP the most so I will stop here. I would only advise Francis Asenso-Boakye to think before talking on sensitive comparison.
No doubt, President Akufo-Addo has done well in several sectors of the economy but raising him above Former President Kufuor is a no go area.
The New Patriotic Party will need both Former President Kufuor and President Akufo-Addo for Victory 2024. Therefore, the comparison by Francis Asenso-Boakye is completely gibberish and balderdash.
The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has destooled the queen mother of the Offinso Traditional Area, Nana Ama Serwaa Nyarko over her gross insubordination to the kingdom.
Her destoolment was pronounced on Thursday, January 11, 2024, during the first Asanteman Traditional Council meeting for the year.
Nana Ama Serwaa Nyarko becomes the first traditional leader to be destooled by the occupant of the Golden Stool in 2024.
She was destooled following her incessant refusal to appear before Otumfuo after several summons over a series of misconduct.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu II and Nana Ama Nyarko
The newly enstooled chief of Offinso, Nana Dwamena Akenten II appeared before the Asanteman Council to swear an oath of allegiance when the Asantehene admonished him to find a new queen mother to support his reign and rulership.
“I deliver the town into your hands alone. You have no queen mother. Find a new queen mother to help you undertake your mandate when you have settled down. We need a queen mother who will be present here when we need her,” Otumfuo said.
Offinso stool controversy
The nomination of a new occupant of the Offinso stool was marred by a series of protests between kingmakers in the area.
The stool became vacant following the demise of Nana Wiafe Akenten III on October 2, 2021, at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital after a short illness.
The controversy emerged after the queen mother failed for the third time to nominate a qualified royal of the Offinso Royal Family to occupy the stool.
Nana Ama Serwaa Nyarko together with other kingmakers had nominated former Board Chairman of Asante Kotoko Sporting Club, Dr Desmond Kofi Koduah Sarpong, to assume the position.
However, there was a vehement protest from the other faction of kingmakers, with claims that the nominee did not belong to a royal family.
Consequently, the Asante Traditional Council constituted a committee to probe the allegation.
The Asantehene and the Committee found that Dr K.K Sarpong who was presented by the queen mother to occupy the stool was not related to the Ahyirem Royal Family.
It was discovered that the woman he claimed to originate from never had a child and was therefore disqualified, breeding tensions among the queen mother and some youth of Offinso.
Asantehene then directed the royals to select a candidate to be sworn in.
Nana Amoako Poku as the new Offinso Chief
On December 18, 2023, the long-standing chieftaincy dispute was resolved after the royal family, led by Kwakwaboa Abusuapanin, Opanin Yaw Nkrumah Adusah, presented Nana Amoako Opoku to Otumfuo at the Manhyia Palace in accordance with Asante tradition.
Nana Amoako Poku, who hails from the Offinso Ahyirem Royal Family, was declared the 2020 Offinso Municipal Best Farmer.The newly-installed chief, before his elevation, was a curator of Asante history.In the last few months, the Asantehene has destooled several chiefs for various acts of misconduct.
Mahamudu Bawumia, the NPP presidential candidate, is expected to begin naming key people to partner him in his campaign for the presidency
From left to right: Sammi Awuku, Peter Mac Manu, Kwabena Agyepong, John Boadu and Dan Botwe
The ruling New Patriotic Party completed all its internal elections on Saturday (27 January 2024), carrying out parliamentary primaries in constituencies where the party has a sitting MP. Following on from the election of Mahamudu Bawumia as the NPP’s presidential candidate in November last year, the Saturday primaries have, in effect, set the stage for the 7 December general election.
With these primaries and almost all other internal party exercises out of the way, Dr Bawumia is expected to name key individuals who will partner with him to crisscross the 16 regions of the country to ask the Ghanaian people to entrust the presidency into his hands.
Apart from naming his running mate, Dr Bawumia must appoint one of the party faithful as his campaign manager. The role of campaign manager typically goes only to a True Blue, and will entail leading the candidate’s overall campaign meritoriously, birthing a strategy that will propel Bawumia to victory in the 7 December presidential and parliamentary elections.
Runners and riders
As expected, names have sprung up for the position of campaign manager of the NPP’s quest to retain power in the 2024 election after the party’s two most recent consecutive terms in office – the enormous mission that the NPP has named “Breaking the 8”.
Asaase News can affirm confidently that five names are making the rounds among the rank and file of the NPP and also in the party’s top hierarchy. The five people are: first, Sammi Awuku, a former national organiser of the party and current parliamentary candidate of the NPP for Akuapem North in the Eastern Region, as well as the serving director general of the National Lottery Authority (NLA).
Second is Dan Botwe, a former NPP general secretary and the outgoing MP for Okere in the Eastern Region who is also the serving Minister of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development (MLGRD).
Peter Mac Manu, a former national chairman of the NPP and two-term campaign manager for President Akufo-Addo in the successful 2016 and 2020 campaigns, is the third name making the rounds as a possible candidate for the role of campaign manager for the party’s 2024 campaign.
The remaining names under consideration are John Boadu, the immediate past NPP general secretary who is now the serving director general of the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), and Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, also a former general secretary of the NPP, who served as presidential spokesman under John Agyekum Kufuor.
Awuku is well known in the New Patriotic Party, having served first as the NPP’s national youth organiser and then national organiser. However, some party faithful have raised concerns about where he would be on D-day: he is the NPP parliamentary candidate for Akuapem North and would be required to be in his constituency on 7 December 2024.
Moreover, those who are not in favour of the presidential candidate appointing Awuku argue that his attention would be divided between the campaign and his corporate duties as director general of the National Lottery Authority.
In addition, some party stalwarts point out that in the UP/NPP tradition, the party has never had a campaign manager who was also standing for Parliament, much less occupying a position in any state or private institution, alongside meeting the challenging responsibility of serving as campaign manager.
In the case of Dan Botwe, also one of those whose names may be put forward for the role of campaign manager, having served as the NPP general secretary and a campaign strategist to the party during the 2016 and 2020 Akufo-Addo runs for presidency, he has a wealth of experience that will support Team Bawumia.
Those not in favour of Botwe as campaign manager argue that he may have had an influence on the party rank and file in the past but lacks the level of influence required to whip up the party base to “break the 8”. However, they still argue that Botwe ought to play a vital role in the Bawumia campaign, just not necessarily as the campaign manager.
Experience, energy, wits, command … and powers of persuasion
Another likely candidate for the role of campaign manager is Peter Mac Manu. After serving as the NPP national chairman, Mac Manu took up the role of campaign manager to President Akufo-Addo in December 2016 and December 2020, winning both of those elections for the party. Those who support his appointment as campaign manager say that he is a safe pair of hands with a fine track record to whom to entrust the campaign.
On the flipside, others suggest that he may have had great success in the past but may not be a good fit for the campaign role today, given the present challenges and the level of energy required to prosecute this crucial campaign facing the NPP.
Proponents of this school of thought believe it is time to appoint a new person as campaign manager, instead of sticking to previously successful holders of the title. They go on to recommend that Mac Manu, just like Botwe, should be given another prominent role to play in the Bawumia 2024 campaign.
Since exiting the role of “chief scribe” of the NPP, John Boadu has kept out of public view while supporting the NPP’s efforts with his vast experience, after serving in three major roles for the party: national youth organiser, national organiser and general secretary.
Those who have put his name forward as the possible campaign manager for Bawumia’s presidential bid argue that he understands the current state of the NPP and will be able to use that understanding to energise the party base to turn out and vote for the NPP candidate on 7 December.
The counterargument against appointing Boadu as Dr Bawumia’s campaign manager is that, Boadu having lost against the current general secretary of the NPP, Justin Kodua Frimpong, in a bitter fight during the last national officers’ election, puting him at the helm for the 2024 campaign may create a conflict between him and the new general secretary.
The last person whose name has come up for the role of campaign manager to Vice-President Bawumia as presidential candidate of the NPP is Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, who once served as campaign manager for the then candidate Akufo-Addo when he first ran for the NPP presidential nomination in 1996.
Despite a history of internal challenges in the NPP which resulted in his suspension in 2015 together with the then national chairman and second vice-chairman, Agyepong has remained faithful and loyal to the New Patriotic Party.
Agyepong, a leading sports commentator in a previous life, is very well known for his eloquence and his command of both English and a number of local Ghanaian languages. Even though he was a member of Nana Akufo-Addo’s campaigns in 2012 and 2020, he has never served in any official role during Akufo-Addo’s presidency. In 2010 and 2023, he stood in the NPP presidential primaries but failed to win.
Some well-meaning NPP supporters believe that he has been punished enough for the crisis of 2015 and that it is time to leverage on his strengths and capabilities to promote the Bawumia candidacy as well as to tackle apathy in the NPP.
There is a clear and present danger ahead of the ruling NPP in the party’s quest to win a third successive term in office, a feat no political party has yet realised under the Fourth Republican constitution. To achieve this, the NPP ought to have a clear vision and plan to mobilise and energise the party base to turn up in their numbers to vote.
The party also needs a campaign manager who can appeal to supporters whose enthusiasm for the party has waned, persuading them to overlook all the difficulties and challenges that have bedevilled the party while in office in the past seven years, and step out to vote for the NPP so that it retains power.
Thus, the campaign manager must be someone who can command respect at all levels of the party, who can quickly master the job of putting the NPP’s presidential candidate above all others who may be contesting the 7 December election and get the job done. Your guess who gets to be campaign manager for the Bawumia 2024 campaign is as good as mine.
The New Patriotic Party(NPP), in collaboration with the Regional Executive Committee, has established reconciliation committees in various regions to address post-election issues.
A press statement by the party on February 1, 2024, tasked the committees to ensure unity within the party in every constituency for the success of the party.
The NPP further explained that the committees, comprising some distinguished members of the community and the party, will also address violent activities emanating from any event of the party including elections.
The party urged committee members to put up their best to achieve success in the 2024 polls.
The statement and list of the Committees members attached below;
The Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has appealed to supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to stop mounting pressure on Vice President Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia regarding his selection of a running mate for the upcoming elections.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu emphasized the importance of allowing the party’s flagbearer the autonomy to choose his running mate, believing it would benefit the party’s unity and success.
During an interview on GTV on Thursday, the Majority Leader expressed his confidence in Dr. Bawumia’s judgment and decision-making abilities.
He urged the public to grant the Vice President the time and space needed to make an informed and strategic choice.
Dr.Bawumia and Hon.Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu
“This whole kind of intrigues and contrivance, it will suggest to some people that are you doing this to foist some people on him because he is a northerner, tying his hands behind him. That is what makes me uncomfortable, Bawumia is discerning enough, he is analytical enough, he is intelligent enough to make his own decision.”
“Let’s leave him. He has stayed long enough in the party to know the nooks and crannies of the party. Let’s leave him to make that decision,” he stressed.Source:Citi Newsroom
The Member of Parliament for Old Tafo, Vincent Ekow Assifuah, has revealed that the Chiefs and residents of the Ashanti region are calling for Energy Minister Mathew Opoku Prempeh to be chosen as the running mate to NPP Flagbearer Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia in the upcoming 2024 general elections.
Assifuah emphasized that the people of the Ashanti region view the Bawumia-Opoku Prempeh ticket as crucial for the NPP to break the eight-year cycle and secure victory in the elections.
Dr.Napo and Dr.Bawumia
“The people of the Ashanti region said they want to see Dr Mahamudu Bawumia as the President of the Republic of Ghana and they also said that the ticket that is going to give us that victory is a ticket that includes Mathew Opoku Prempeh,” Assifuah said on Eyewitness News on Wednesday, January 31.
He further added that the Chiefs and residents of the Ashanti region are united in their preference for the Bawumia-NAPO ticket, viewing it as the key to success in the 2024 elections.
“The people of Ashanti region and the Chiefs, are all telling us that they want that ticket, the Bawumia and NAPO ticket and that ticket is going to give us victory in 2024.”
While Dr. Bawumia has yet to announce his running mate for the December polls, some analysts have predicted that Opoku Prempeh and Joseph Osei Owusu are considered likely choices.
Others have also tipped the Chief of Staff Frema Osei Opare or Communications Minister Ursula Owusu Ekulful as possible running mates.
Source
The leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP)* extends a cordial invitation to the general public to an address by the Vice President of the Republic and flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party,His Excellency Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia*
Theme: GHANA’S NEXT CHAPTER: SELFLESS LEADERSHIP AND BOLD SOLUTIONS FOR THE FUTURE
Date: 7th of February, 2024,
Time:4:00 pm.
venue Kofi-ohene Konadu Auditorium, University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA)
The Second Vice Chairman of Suame Constituency of New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Richard Akwasi Asante,has called on the Special Prosecutor, Mr Kissi Adjabeng, to resign to save his integrity.
Mr Adjabeng, according to the Vice Chairman, is remotely controlled to selectively pick cases favourable to his masters to the neglect of other similar cases.
Mr Asante, who was reacting to the billions of cedis paid by NPP Parliamentary candidates in the just ended primaries, dared Mr Adjabeng to publicly declare whether or not he noticed or caused to be noticed of such corruptible acts.
According to Mr Asante, failure to act same, the Special Prosecutor should apologise and compensate Mr
Kofi ofosu Nkansah, Chief Executive Officer (CEO)of the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme, for causing his arrest for allegedly sharing money to delegates of Asante Akim Central before the primaries.
The vice chairman also described the arrest and initial prosecution of Madam Cecilia Dapaa, Former Minister of Sanitation by the Special Prosecutor as an iceberg of his selectivity since most parliamentary candidates also packed such monies in their houses and banks ahead of the primaries.
Mr Asante, who is a former Parliamentary Research Assistant, described such monecracy as the genesis of corruption in government therefore if not tackled at its root stage, the office of the Special Prosecutor will remain irrelevant.
Mr Asante, therefore, urged the Special Prosecutor to commence investigations into the bribery and corruptible acts that hugged the parliamentary primaries to redeem his reputation.
