The leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has rejected claims that the party has been hijacked by a select few.

Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen during a press conference on Monday, September 25, resigned from the party and declared his intention to contest as an independent candidate.

Alan claimed that the party has been “hijacked by a selected group of Party leaders and elders, and government appointees behind the curtain power brokers”.

But responding to him on a press conference, the General Secretary of NPP, Justin Koduah, dismissed the assertion.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the leadership of the Party equally disagrees with assertions made by Mr. Kyerematen on page eight (8) of his resignation address that ‘the Party has been hijacked by a selected group of Party leaders and elders, and government appointees behind the curtain power brokers’.”

“Guided by facts and data, the leadership of the Party disagrees entirely with this assertion. Historically, the selection of flagbearers for political parties in Ghana had been the preserve of a privileged few until the New Patriotic Party took the bold decision to decentralize the process by expanding its electoral college to enfranchise some One Hundred and Six Thousand, Five-Hundred and Ninety (106,590) delegates in 2010.”

He added, “Currently, about Two Hundred Thousand (200,000) delegates would be voting to select the Party’s next flagbearer relative to the estimated One Thousand Nine Hundred and Ninety-Eight delegates (1,998) who did same in 1992. Clearly, the quantum leap to Two Hundred Thousand (200,000) delegates in 2023 underscores the decentralization of power to all Party stakeholders and defeats the assertion that the Party has been hijacked by a privileged few”.

He further rubbished Mr. Kyerematen’s claims of intimidation against his supporters emphasising that government appointees including cabinet ministers who openly declared support for him are still at post.

“In reference to Mr Kyerematen’s concerns, which include allegations of intimidation against his supporters, it is noteworthy that certain government appointees, including cabinet ministers, who openly declared their support for him are still at post and have never been intimidated,” he stated.

Immediate past Minister for Trade and Industry Alan Kyerematen is set to resign from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the second time in his political career, 3news.com has gathered. 

The two-time Minister of Trade, under the governments of John Agyekum Kufuor and, until recently, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, was one of 10 people who contested last month’s NPP Super Delegates Conference, which reduced the number of people in the NPP flagbearership contest from 10 to 5.

After placing a disappointing 3rd in the election, behind Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and Kennedy Agyapong, Mr Kyerematen announced his withdrawal from the race ahead of the main election in November, citing intimidation of his supporters and unfair treatment to one of his agents, precisely in the North East Region.

Sources close to the former NPP flagbearer hopeful say he is set to announce his second resignation from the party, at a scheduled press conference on Monday, September 25.

The sources also revealed that Alan Kyerematen will announce his decision to contest the 2024 Presidential election as an independent candidate to “pay back the NPP for humiliating Alan” in last month’s Special Delegates Conference.

“I can confirm to you that Chief Alan is all set to announce his resignation from the NPP, and go independent. Unless there is a last-minute change of mind, he will resign from the party and go independent,” one of the sources said.

“What happened in the Special Delegates Conference last month was really not good. The way the party voted was disappointing. It was really humiliating that considering all he has done and his stature in the party, he was third behind Kennedy Agyapong. Since he is not valued, he will resign and go independent and pay back the party,” the source added.

The source, however, revealed that a significant number of Alan Kyerematen’s allies across the country are not in favour of his decision to go independent and they have refused to be part of it.

A staunch supporter of Alan and MP for Mpraeso, Davies Opoku, widely known in political circles as OPK, said in the immediate aftermath of Alan Kyerematen’s withdrawal from the NPP flagbearership race that he will not support him if he goes independent.

Since then, many of those who supported Alan Kyerematen’s NPP flagbearership bid across the country, including significant number of his regional coordinators, have publicly declared their support for Vice President Bawumia.

Following Alan Kyerematen’s resignation from the NPP in 2007, his intended resignation will be the second time from the NPP for similar reasons.

In April 2008, after he placed second behind Nana Akufo-Addo in the NPP presidential primaries, Alan Kyerematen resigned from the NPP, before later rescinding his decision.

Upon his return to the party, he contested in the 2010 and 2014 primaries, as well as as the current primaries.

The NPP Member of Parliament for Dome–Kwabenya, Sarah Adwoa Safo, has announced her intentions to contest again in the 2024 election.

Adwoa Safo, who first entered Parliament in 2012, publicly apologized to the President, the Vice President, and the leadership of the NPP over the past week for what she says were actions that affected the party.

She was away for almost a year, leaving a vacuum in Parliament and the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection, where she served as Minister.

Speaking to journalists after touring her constituency, Sarah Adwoa Safo said she had already informed the party of her intentions to run again. “Politics is a game of numbers, if it’s the will of God and the people want me, I will run again,” Adwoa Safo said.

The New Patriotic Party expressed its approval of the public apology made by the MP.

The Deputy General Secretary of the NPP, Haruna Mohammed, stated that her apology is viewed positively and contributes to the party’s image. “She has done something positive and the party welcomes her apology,” Haruna Mohammed said.

However, some New Patriotic Party (NPP) executives in the Dome-Kwabenya constituency say they have taken the apology by Member of Parliament, Sarah Adwoa Safo, with a pinch of salt.

The NPP constituency Secretary for Dome-Kwabenya, Theophilus Larbi, described her apology as habitual, adding that her re-election as parliamentary candidate for the next general elections could adversely affect the party’s chances in the constituency.