The verbal jabs in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) ahead of the October 18 congress are far from over as a former Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) of Accra counters allegations made by the Member of Parliament for Nhyieso, Dr Richard Anane, that he attempted to persuade former President J. A. Kufuor to step down ahead of the 2000 election.
The former MCE, Mr Stanley Nii Adjiri Blankson, did not mince words in a statement in which he described Dr Anane’s allegations as “Ananse” stories.
“I would have treated this spurious comment with the contempt it deserves but for the sake of history and those who would be tempted to believe such unfortunate, diabolical, callous and psychosomatic supposed campaign speech,” the statement said.
Accusations
Dr Anane, at the launch of Mr Alan Kyerematen’s campaign last Saturday, accused Mr Blankson of leading a team to former NPP leaders, Mr B. J da Rocha and Mr Odoi Sykes, to urge the then NPP flag bearer, Mr J.A Kufuor, to step down not long after he had been elected in 1998.
The former Roads and Highways minister had indicated that the call on Mr Kyerematen in particular to not contest Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was a similar ploy used in 1998, led by Mr Blankson, to stop Mr Kufuor, who was later elected President for two terms—2000 and 2004.
Dr Anane stated that the action amounted to disrespect for the party’s Electoral College and constitution as the expanded Electoral College was meant to prevent vote buying and promote grass-roots participation in the election of a flag bearer.
Mr Blankson’s response
However, the accusation didn’t go down well with Mr Blankson who said, “Dr Anane is a matured politician who should know better, particularly with that singular opportunity he had to tell the much needed audience at Lapaz of the virtues and programme of his candidate and my good friend Alan but wasted time lying and creating so much embarrassment to his team.”
To put the matter to rest, he said, while Mr da Rocha was dead, Mr Sykes was alive and could confirm or debunk the allegations.
The race
In an election in which nearly 800 people voted on August 31, this year, the NPP reduced from seven to five contenders for the party’s presidential race.
In that race, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo emerged winner garnering over 80 per cent of the votes cast. Besides Nana Akufo Addo Mr Kyerematen, Mr Joe Ghartey, Mr Kofi Osei Ameyaw, and Mr Francis Addai Nimoh made it to the top five while Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku and Mr Stephen Asamoah failed to make the mark.
In the aftermath of that election, Mr Joe Ghartey and Mr Kofi Osei Ameyaw withdrew from the challenge with persistent calls on Mr Kyerematen to step down in the interest of party unity.
That call appears to have tickled the wrong nerve in Mr Kyerematen’s camp. His faithful, including Dr Anane, insisted that they would take their chances with the 140,000 delegates on October 18.
‘Kyerematen is the man’
Rallying the delegates to vote for his candidate, he urged the delegates, particularly the polling station executive who Mr Kyerematen, appears to anchor his hope on to prepare and vote for Mr Kyerematen, whose two previous attempts in 2007 and 2010 ended in a defeat to Nana Akufo-Addo.
He expressed strong reservations about what he described as lack of respect for the national party executive.
“If you disrespect the party executives, you’re disrespecting the party,” he said in reference to confusion that rocked the party headquarters last month.
He dismissed perceptions that Mr Kyerematen was a latter day member of the party, and insisted that when in 1992 the party needed money to run its campaign, Mr Kyerematen played a leading role.
“How then can somebody say today that he is new? The dishonesty in the party is becoming too much. We have been on the journey with Alan Kyerematen since 1992,” he said.
He said Mr Kyerematen, a former Minister of Trade and Industry, had all the needed credentials to the lead the party in the 2016 election and ultimately win.
He said the party needed someone who was patient, humble and not arrogant, adding that such qualities would enable the party’s flag bearer to listen and make use of any advice given to him.
He challenged all those contending for the party’s presidential ticket to show their track record when they were appointed as ministers in the Kufuor regime.
He pointed out that Mr Kyerematen’s footprints, when he served in the Kufuor regime, included the AGOA projects and the Free Zones enclave.
Kyerematen speaks
Mr Kyerematen made his entry to the campaign grounds mobbed by party supporters who were dressed in t-shirts with his picture on them.
Dressed in jeans with a cream-coloured shirt to match and a party muffler around his neck, Mr Kyerematen broke into a song, singing praises to God when he took his turn to address the supporters.
Not to be outdone by her husband, Mrs Pat Kyerematen also showed some Azonto moves that got the crowd cheering her own.
When he launched into the day’s business, he described himself as the key to the party’s victory in the 2016 election.
He also spelt out his vision for a united and a financially sound party.
He said his administration would be built on three pillars—infrastructure development, industrialisation and export development.
Writer’s email:
