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Dr Kwabena Duffuor on why he pulled out of NDC presidential primary
Dr Kwabena Duffuor on why he pulled out of NDC presidential primary

Duffuor on why he pulled out of NDC presidential primary [VIDEO]

Dr Kwabena Duffour, has pulled out from the National Democratic Congress presidential primary.

He announced his withdrawal on the eve of the elections on Friday night and explained that his decision was based on his grievances with the processes surrounding the party’s preparation for the elections, especially the voters register.

According to him, the exercise has been marred by a lot of irregularities; a situation which has not been resolved by the leadership of the party.

Based on this, he said he was withdrawing from the race but will continue to keep in touch with the grassroots.

“As at this time, the party has begun distributing the ballot papers to the various regions and constituencies without our involvement.

"I wish to reiterate my commitment to the party and grassroots, however my concerns that the party is not ready to conduct free and fair elections is evident for all of us to see”, Dr Duffuor said.

“Taking part in such an event will be akin to knowingly drinking from a poisoned calabash."

"After consulting with my support base nationwide, I have been left with no choice but to withdraw as I cannot contest in an election blatantly flawed with irregularities regardless of all my effort to draw attention to the same”.

Duffuor reasons

Dr Duffuor said his decision bordered on the issues of transparency and fairness in the electoral process of the party.

Lawsuit

Earlier in the day, Dr Duffuor instructed his lawyers to discontinue the legal action following advice from his campaign team based on discrepancies in the photo album which was furnished them by the leadership of the NDC overseeing the presidential primary.

Subsequent to that, he said, he engaged with the team working for his bid in the election, and had communicated his decision to withdraw from the contest to lead the NDC in the 2024 presidential election.

Unflinching support 

“As a result, I want to take this opportunity to inform the NDC and my supporters of my decision to withdraw from the contest,” he said. 

“I want to thank the teeming supporters who believed in my message and stood behind me. I want to assure them that my decision is for the good of the party, and to assure them of my unflinching support for the victory of the NDC in the 2024 election,” he stated.

“I wish the party well, and I wish all parliamentary aspirants the very best in today’s election,” he added.

Below is a copy of Dr Duffuor's statement

On Thursday 11th May 2023, the Chairman of the National Democratic Congress, Mr. Johnson Aseidu Nketiah, in the company of Madam Betty Mould met with me and my team to discuss the challenges relating to the voters' register. It was decided at the meeting that, there should be a follow up meeting with the leadership of the party and the council of elders.

Today at 1pm members of my campaign team and I concluded the follow up meeting with the party leadership and Council of Elders of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as agreed after instructing my lawyers to discontinue the legal action whilst we work on resolving matters with regard to the voters register through the party's internal processes.

At the meeting chaired by the former speaker of parliament, Rt Hon. Edward Doe Adjaho, all stakeholders at the meeting agreed that the Party Chairman, Johnson Asiedu Nketia would immediately set up a technical team comprising the technical representatives from the 3 presidential aspirants and the party's election committee to determine how soon the irregularities with the voters register could be resolved in readiness for the Presidential primaries. The technical committee was to subsequently submit a report to parties after this had been determined. As I speak with you, our technical team is currently at the Party headquarters to undertake this activity.

However, despite the assurances given to myself and my team by the Chairman of the Party, the executives of the party, in an act of complete and unacceptable breach of faith, went ahead to convene a press conference announcing that the elections would go ahead tomorrow, without having resolved the concerns surrounding the voters register as decided at the meeting of the Council of Elders.

As at this time, the party has begun distributing the ballot papers to the various regions and constituencies without our involvement.

I wish to reiterate my commitment to the party and its grassroots. However, my concerns that the party is not ready to conduct free and fair election is evident for all to see. Taking part in such would be akin to knowingly drinking from a poisoned calabash.

After consulting with my support base nationwide, I have been left with no choice but to withdraw from the Presidential election as I cannot contest in an election which is blatantly fraught with irregularities regardless of all my efforts to draw attention to same.

I would like to sincerely thank my supporters for their unwavering faith in team DKD and our well-wishers. I assure you that we will continue to fight the cause of the grassroots for the betterment of the party and my Ahotor Project will continue regardless.

Thank you for coming and goodnight.
Signed:
Dr. Kwabena Duffuor
12/05/2023
EMPOWERING
FOR 2024
@drkwabenaduffuor

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