By: Emmanuel Oti Acheampong
The New Patriotic Party, NPP, goes to the polls to elect their Flagbearer for the 2024 general election on November 4, 2023 and the tension within the party and the country at large seem not to be sinking until the day is over. Political Analysts and researchers have waded into the process and have aired their opinions and findings on national media.
In an interview with Joy News, Political Marketing Strategist and Lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School, Professor Kobby Mensah has stated that, for the first time in the history of the New Patriotic Party, they are presenting weak candidates to both the party and Ghanaians to select.
The candidates, Ken Ohene Agyapong, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto and Ing. Francis Addai Nimo according to Prof. Mensah are all ‘weak’ as compared to previous candidates the NPP has provided over the past 30 years.
He stressed that they all appear to have some weaker marks on their political journey which poses more of a curse than a blessing to the party.
“I have never seen the NPP present very candidates to a national election like this. Whichever candidate they actually choose, I don’t think that they are in the core position”, he said.
According to him, the government currently has put the economy of the country in shambles and has also failed to properly handle the debt situation of the nation even with the inflow of IMF support. He mentioned that the economic management of the country was spearheaded by the Vice President who is also a candidate for the Flagbearer contest, a more reason he appears a weak candidate.
He further touted the Former Agriculture Minister who is also a candidate as someone who could not achieve or leave behind any blueprint when he was in charge of the ministry. Citing the Planting for Food and Job Policy, Prof. Mensah mentioned that, Dr. Afriyie Akoto applied some strategies that did not suffice and that alone makes him a weaker candidate. He also mentioned that the party is doing all it can to protect the images of the contestants which politically he finds right.
He shared an opinion that both aforementioned candidates stand as an advantage to Ken Ohene Agyapong who happens to be speaking and commenting on what is on the minds of the majority of party members.
He also said, as much as Ken seems to be on the path of the people, his temperament and utterances over the years stand as a big disadvantage for him.
