The permutations in the NPP presidential primary has begun. Who partners Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen? Who will be Bawumia’s running mate? And what about Kennedy Agyepong’s prospective running mate? The three individuals are so far, the leading contenders in the NPP presidential nomination.
If there could be any potential upset, then the lens should be put on Kwabena Adjei Agyepong, the former General Secretary and one-time Spokesperson for President John Agyekum Kufuor. Kwabena’s project is the one to watch in the coming months. The others in the race include Boakye Agyarko, Kofi Konadu Apraku, Addae Nimo and Joe Ghartey.
At a time that it does seemed a taboo for any member of government to flirt with any one of the candidates, except Bawumia, some followers of the NPP presidential primary are baffled as much as shocked that a serving minister of state, Peter Amewu is constantly being sighted in the campaign team of the former Trade Minister. An insider hinted this author that for long, the seat of government had picked up intelligence that Peter Amewu is an ardent follower of Alan Kyerematen.
He however, could not suffer the fate of former ministers like Boniface Abubakar Saddiqque, Catherine Afeku, Otiko Gyaba, Buaben Asamoah, Carlos Ahenkora and others. All these gentlemen could not get in, into the second term administration of Akufo Addo because of their affinity to Alan Kwadwo Kyerematern. In the case of Amewu, the Jubilee House could not act because of his strategic positioning in the Volta-NPP political conundrum.
Amewu is the only top serving personnel in the administration from the Volta Region. And with the Akan image of the NPP still a major concern of the party, the establishment deliberately avoided taking out Amewu in the President’s second term, but virtually rendered him incapacitated and redundant by putting him at the Railway Ministry, which insiders say, only exists on paper. Debut minister of the sector, Joe Ghartey, refused a second term offer because of similar conditions.
Kofi Dsamesi, the former Minister of Chieftaincy Affairs, and a known Alan adherent, had made a quick declaration for the Bawumia candidature in the hope that, he will once again catch the attention of His Excellency, the President. This author can state on authority that most ministers rooting for the Bawumia candidacy, are doing so under self-duress; to keep their public offices and all the trappings that go with their appointments. Some are really indeed, for the Vice President.
Sources have disclosed to this writer that Alan’s anticipated move for Peter Amewu, also has the potential of promoting the upward political trajectory of the former Energy Minister than the obscure and little known Ministry of Rails and Railway Development. Research has shown clearly that Mr. Kyerematen’s popularity in the Volta NPP caucus is shockingly very high. By proportional representation, it can even be equated with that of Alan's popularity in his home Region of Ashanti.
It’s then imperative that in event Alan clinches NPP’s presidential nomination, he would need to pay back the Region with a choice of a running mate. And that seems to have fallen on Peter Amewu, the man with the history of being the first NPP person to have won a seat in a traditional NDC stronghold of the Volta Region. Currently, Peter Amewu is the MP for Hohoe. Dr. Bawumia on the other hand, is likely to pick someone from the Ashanti Region as his running mate if he should become the flagbearer of the NPP.
That’s the permutation being suggested from various sources. Some have even predicted that the Vice President may not necessarily pick an Asante, but someone of Akan extraction to ensure that the NPP retains its Akan numbers. Could that be the reason why Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, Ursula Owusu, are all queuing up behind Bawumia everywhere he goes?
Alan comes with an assured Ashanti votes because he is one of their own from the paternal angle. He is a royal from one of famous gates in Ashanti— Ejisu Juaben royal family. The former Trade Minister is also likely to enjoy massive support from the Juaben wing of the Ejisu Royal family in Koforidua Oyoko. The Juaben paramountcy is a direct descendant of the Asante Juaben lineage.
Meanwhile, the Fantes are also laying claim to Alan as one of theirs because his mother— Nee Welsing, is from the ancient coastal town of Elmina. Alan’s possible choice of an Ewe running mate is strategic in many sense. It’s a way of using the Amewu candidature to break the hegemonic hold of the NDC in Volta land, while he concentrates and consolidates his popularity in Asante, Eastern and the Central Regions.
Content created and supplied by: RKeelson (via Opera News )
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