Assin Central Member of Parliament (MP) Kennedy Ohene Agyapong says he is going to go the full hog as the New Patriotic Party (NPP) elects its 2024 flagbearer on Saturday, November 4.

He says the race is for any of the four aspirants’ to win and after that they will all come together for the task ahead in 2024.

“I am not going to step down for anybody,” he said in an interaction with some friends over the weekend, adding in Twi that “if you win, you win and after that we come together”.

“But coming together will depend on how we conduct this November 4 elections,” he cautioned.

Mr Agyapong was among the five aspirants who made it after the Super Delegates’ Conference on Saturday, August 26.

He leapfrogged favourite Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen to place second behind Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, who was also a favourite.

Mr Kyerematen, a perennial flagbearer aspirant of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), withdrew from the race after citing intimidation and widespread favouritism for “one particular aspirant”.

As a result, four are left to battle for the single ticket.

The four are Vice President Bawumia, who has already begun campaigning for the elections, Mr Agyapong, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto and Francis Addai-Nimoh.

Mr Agyapong expressed resolve to contest the primary on November 4.

A political analyst and Senior Lecturer at the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Dr. Jonathan-Asante Otchere, has expressed concerns about Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s inconsistency with his messages and its potential impact on the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the upcoming 2024 elections.

Dr. Bawumia recently assured the NPP that he is prepared to challenge the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in its strongholds in the 2024 elections.

He made this statement while addressing NPP delegates in the Oti Region on Saturday, September 9, 2023, where he mentioned that the Zongos and other NDC strongholds were eagerly anticipating his candidacy as the NPP’s flagbearer.

However, commenting on this development during an interview on Morning Starr on Monday, September 11, 2023, Dr. Jonathan-Asante Otchere expressed skepticism.

He questioned the NPP’s decision to prioritize Dr. Bawumia over Alan Kyerematen, stating;

“For NPP to put Bawumia ahead of Alan, maybe Alan was not good enough. But for the NPP machinery to do that, I don’t know whether they have done any calculable analysis to send Dr. Bawumia to the forefront of NPP. Because everything that he says, if he wins the Presidential slot of the NPP, has tape recording or a video of what he said previously.”

Dr. Asante-Otchere emphasized the potential consequences of Bawumia’s inconsistency on the NPP’s campaign, particularly focusing on the issues of trustworthiness and deliverability. He expressed concerns that Ghanaians might find it difficult to trust Dr. Bawumia based on his previous statements.

Charles Owusu has shared the feelings of the campaign team members of Alan Kwadwo Kyerematenand his supporters following the sudden decision by him to no longer contest the New Patriotic Party’s presidential election.

Alan Kyerematen, who polled 95 votes during the New Patriotic Party’s super delegates election to secure a third position on the top five candidates’ list, on Tuesday, September 5 shocked his followers as he announced his withdrawal from the upcoming race.

He cited various reasons for his decision saying “after having carefully analysed the results of the said elections, it is absolutely clear to me from events leading to, during and after the elections, that the Special Delegates Conference was strategically and tactically skewed in favour of one particular Aspirant”.

He added “the level of intimidation of varying intensity, directly and indirectly unleashed on a significant number of Delegates at various Voting Centers across the sixteen regions, is unprecedented in the history of our Party”.

Alan also accused the party of disregarding his concerns stressing “the fact that my Polling Agent in the North East region has suffered severe damage to his eyesight, arising from his bold and courageous effort to ensure compliance with the very rules and regulations for the conduct of the elections as approved by the Presidential Elections Committee, will forever remain a dark spot in the history of internal elections within the Party. This incident and various acts of violence and collusion, reported in other Voting Centers, are appalling, unconscionable, and despicable”.

“I wish to confirm that I am honourably withdrawing from the process that will lead to the Presidential Primaries to be held on the 4th of November 2023”, he concluded in a press statement.

Addressing the matter on Peace FM’s “Kokrokoo” show, Charles Owusu, who also supported Alan for President, expressed disgust at his decision.

To him, Alan’s withdrawal is slap on the faces of his followers.

“I’m weeping for the people who supported him for his vision”, he stated and found it hard to understand Alan didn’t anticipate some level of disturbances in the election.

He explained that Alan has been in various presidential contests of the party since Kufour’s regime, so expected him as an experienced politician to have foreknown the things that characterized this year’s Super Delegates Congress are not peculiar; therefore stating emphatically that Alan’s reasons for withdrawing from the contest are “weak”.

“If Alan Kyerematen didn’t know these intimidations and so forth would happen, then I am surprised. Then, in the first place, he shouldn’t have contested at all”, he added, stressing “you can’t blame Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia. You can’t blame the President”.