Africa-Press – Ghana. A Professor at the University of Ghana, Kobby Mensah, has said that kneeling before Dr Bawumia or President Akufo-Addo will not qualify any of the persons rumoured to be under consideration for the NPP’s running mate slot.
He said the instance where one of the frontrunners in the candidature for a running mate for the Flageaber of the New Patriotic Patriotic (NPP) Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has been seen kneeling before him at a public event will not matter in the final decsion on who becomes the vice presidential candidate.
One of the frontrunners whose name came up strongly on social media as being considered to be the vice presidential candidate, the Energy Minister Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has been seen kneeling before Dr Bawumia at a public function while having a conversation.
Asked for his view on this while commenting on the Ghana Tonight show on Wednesday, December 6, Prof Kobby Mensah said, “The public kneeling and public bowing, I don’t think that it will go anyway to influence. If the candidate himself feels that of course beyond the public perception, you are the best candidate that they can pair with, I am sure they might have made the decisions already, not the kneeling and bowing.”
He further explained that what qualifies somebody to be a running mate is whether the person can understand the situation that the country finds itself in at the moment.
He says Ghanaians need someone who can relate to the economic challenges and factor in those challenges in the decision-making process.
Prof Kobby Mensah said “What qualifies someone to be the running mate is whether they can understand the situation that we are in, the times we are in, that the person has the same wave length of sensitivity as Ghanaians, the person has that reflection and relates to the problems that people are going through and as a result take on board in their decision making.
“You are looking at somebody who can actually advance the course of the ticket, someone who can really be connected to voters in a manner that will draw them closer and win them the ticket. That is what matters.”
This was announced by the General Secretary of the party, Justin Frimpong Kodua, at a press conference in Accra.
According to Article 13 of the NPP Constitution, the Flagbearer should announce his running mate, 12 months before the general elections.
Today Thursday, December 7, 2023 marks exactly 12 months to the election 2024.
At the crucial meeting of the NPP’s National Executive Council to consider possible candidates held today, December 6, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia requested an extension of time to consult further on his selection of a running mate ahead of the 2024 elections.
According to Mr. Kodua, the Council has granted this request and is looking forward to a new date from the flagbearer.
Meanwhile, the Council has varied the date for the conduct of primaries in constituencies with sitting MPs.
The election will now be held on the 27th of January and not 20th of January, 2024.
In the meantime, campaign activities have been suspended in these constituencies until the 2024 budget is approved.
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