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A political marketing strategist, Prof. Kobby Mensah, says there was no need for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to reduce the number of candidates contesting in its flagbearership race.
Speaking in an interview on The Big Issue on Citi TV on Saturday, he said having more people on board was important for democratic processes and enhanced the party’s cohesion.
“The party did not address the concerns of 2008 properly. There was a public outcry that almost 17 aspirants who were ministers at the time had filed in a very substantial amount of money, and people felt that they had used state resources. However, this is a democracy, and we encourage democracy and participation. So, if we have 17 aspirants participating, and they are genuine in their participation, and people don’t think that they actually had the funds from state coffers, then why should we have a problem with that? I personally believe that the more participation we have from people in the race, the more beneficial it is to our democratic process.”
“There was no need for this administrative decision by a few selected people to reduce the number of candidates if the process was genuine and people felt that the candidates actually relied on their own resources. I think that because campaigning is a period of intensity, the more genuine candidates there are to contest, the better it is for the party because they will use their various strengths to energize the party.”
Voting has ended in all the 17 voting centres nationwide.
The party is expected to reduce from ten to five the number of persons seeking to lead the party into the 2024 elections. The party will later in November 2023 organise another delegates conference to elect one out of the five.
The 10 aspirants are Alan Kyerematen, former Trade Minister; Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, Former Agriculture Minister; Kennedy Agyapong, MP for Assin Central; Joe Ghartey, former Railways Minister; Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, former party General Secretary; Kwadwo Poku, an energy expert; Boakye Agyarko, former Energy Minister; Kofi Konadu Apraku, former Trade Minister; Francis Addai Nimoh, former Member of Parliament for Mampong and Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Vice President.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=/1MgYWPcrNRw
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