Speaking in an interview with The Chronicle yesterday, Mr. Owusu Afriyie (Sir John) noted that though the party had not advertised for the position, loyal members had hidden behind chiefs and fan clubs to lobby for the position, which is a dangerous development that must not be encouraged.
In the round up to the 2008 elections, a similar phenomenon occurred, where some of the top members of the party were openly seen lobbying to be nominated as a running mate to the presidential candidate.
Among names that came up at the time were Lepowura Alhaji Jawulah, a former Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Alhaji Boniface Saddique, and Ghana’s former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Rashid Bawa.
Though the party executives had indicated that the running mate to Nana Addo for the 2012 elections would be determined in the second quarter of next year, similar lobbying had already started with some supporters calling press conferences to suggest their preferred candidate to the presidential candidate.
Sir John further told The Chronicle that this time the party would not tolerate such behaviour and that no amount of lobbying would change the mind of the presidential candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and the national executives of the party, who have the prerogative to select the running mate.
‘We don’t want people to lobby for the running mate, because we have not advertised for the position,’ he said.
According to him, the National Secretariat had decided to condemn the development because it had the potential to cause trouble for the party in future.
He noted that since most of the lobbying was based on tribal lines, a region could rise up against the party for not selecting the running mate from its area, which would not serve the interest of the party.
The NPP General Secretary advised those behind the campaign to join the presidential candidate, Nana Akufo Addo, who would begin a grassroots campaign across the country next month, to win more voters for the NPP.
Meanwhile, the party has issued an official press statement on the issue. Below is the full statement:
At a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held on 24th May, 2011, it was decided that no individual or group of persons should be heard or seen to be canvassing for a particular person to be chosen as the Running Mate of Nana Akufo-Addo, the Flagbearer of NPP.
The position of NEC is that the Running Mate position is not an elective position whereby campaigning and canvassing of vote is required. The NPP Constitution has clear guidelines on choosing the Running Mate.
We wish to assure our teeming supporters that these guidelines would be diligently followed and an appropriate, suitable and acceptable person would be announced as Running Mate by the 2nd quarter of 2012.
Until then, we humbly request all individuals or groups of individuals, Interest groups, Fan clubs and/or Associations etc to desist from the practice of canvassing or lobbying for a particular person.
The practice whereby certain groups issue statements and publications in the media in support of a particular person must cease with immediate effect. Refusal to heed to our humble plea may result in the application of severe sanctions against such persons or groups of persons, or the so called ‘candidate’.
The cooperation of all Party faithful, sympathizers and interest groups in this matter would be highly appreciated.
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