By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
Mr. Lawrence Addae, known in the political circles as Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, has warned against what he described as a popularity contest, which is taking the center stage in the upcoming New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) presidential primaries.
Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, a seven time former Member of Parliament for Suame Constituency in the Ashanti Region, re-echoed the warning of party elder Mr. Kwame Pianim in 2007, when 17 aspirants vied to succeed President J.A. Kufuor.
Mr. Pianim’s profound statement then was ‘NPP, you’re not looking for a flagbearer. People seem to think that we are looking for a flagbearer. As for the flagbearership, any idiot could become the flagbearer.’ But we are looking beyond the flagbearer, because you are looking for a presidential candidate who ultimately will become the president of this country.”
It’s on the heels of this that, Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu who served as a MP in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Parliaments of the 4th Republic of Ghana is cautioning against members reducing the upcoming NPP presidential primaries to a mere popularity contest alone.
Speaking in an interview on JoyNews’ PM Express on Monday, July 21, 2025, the NPP stalwart stressed that the stakes for the party and Ghana are too high for that kind of superficial approach.
“People are coming out there because they satisfy the qualification and eligibility criteria as set out in the party’s constitution or even the national constitution acknowledged.
We are not just looking for a flagbearer. We are looking for a president or a presidential candidate,” the former Suame lawmaker who served as minority and majority leader during his tenure in parliament reiterated.
