It is now official, following the personal confirmation by Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen that he was going to contest the 2024 presidential election as an independent candidate.
Alan officially submitted his resignation letter indicating he was no longer interested in being a member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Monday [September 25, 2023].
Immediately after that, he addressed a press conference and announced his decision to contest 2024 as an independent candidate.
He is now forming a movement, called “Movement for Change” with a Monarch Butterfly as the symbol.
This is a big blow to the governing New Patriotic Party as the move would greatly affect the unity of the party going into Election 2024.
The NPP has been at the helm of affairs in governance since January 7, 2017 and hoping to break the eight year cycle of governance between the NPP and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The speculation about Alan Kyerematen’s resignation and independent presidential candidate moves intensified at the weekend and got NPP members jittery after a poster announcing he will address a press conference at the Movenpick Hotel on Monday afternoon was released by his aides and supporters.
Infact, the speculation had actually started earlier, before September 5, 2023, the day he announced his withdrawal from the NPP presidential race.
Alan was shortlisted as part of the five candidates who were going into the final selection on November 4, 2023 but there were clear indications that he was going to lose that contest following the popularity gained by Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia and Kennedy Ohene Agyapong as the leading candidates.
Alan placed third in the August Special Delegates conference having garnered less than 100 votes out of the over 900 votes.
Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, considered by some as a “non presidential” material who entered the NPP presidential race just recently beat Alan, who had been in the race for more than 16 years. His name first came up in 2005 as the replacement for the then President John Agyekum Kufuor who was retiring on January 6, 2009.
In 2007, Alan contested with 16 other candidates and came second, as President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo beat him and became the leading candidate. Akufo-Addo has led the party since 2007 as the presidential choice.
He is retiring on January 6, 2025 and the NPP is looking for a replacement.
Second time Alan is quitting NPP
Feeling bitter about the loss and the following political antecedents, in 2008 Alan resigned from the NPP in a similar move but was politically coerced and later rejoined the party.
He announced his decision in a press statement.
Mr Kyerematen wrote, “The question I keep asking myself is, How did we get here as a Party in the first place, and how far are we prepared to tread on this dangerous path to self-destruction?”
“Regrettably, I am not convinced that the circumstances I have referred to earlier, will not persist or even be escalated in the next round of elections, for which balloting is scheduled for Wednesday, 6th of September 2023.
What happened in 2008 with Alan Kyerematen’s resignation from NPP?
Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen on April 17, 2008 resigned from the NPP.
There have been varying views about the political future of Mr Kyerematen following his withdrawal from the NPP presidential primary
In what looked like a re-enactment of a 2008 scenario when he quit the party after a failed ambition to lead the party into the presidential race, Mr Kyerematen stepped down from the final stage of the party’s presidential primary, citing intimidation, physical assault on his supporters, and an unlevel field that favoured a particular candidate.
Known for his calm disposition, the former Minister of Trade and Industry’s appeal among political moderates has been touted as a direct function of his unpolitical character.
The businessman, who attains 68 years on October 3, 2023, had sought the party’s blessings to contest the presidency 15 years ago, and was always touted as the party’s anointed candidate after Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo until Dr Mahamudu Bawumia emerged.
SOURCE: Graphic online
