By Esther Osei Adomah Mill
The New Patriotic Party in power is set to conduct a pivotal vote on Saturday, August 26, 2023, aimed at reducing the current pool of presidential flagbearer contenders from ten to five.
This crucial event, known as the Super Delegates Conference, is a strategic move by the party to streamline the candidate selection process democratically.
The Super Delegates Conference, inclusive of Party National Executives, Members of Parliament, and other respected figures within the party’s internal structure, constitutes a significant component of the party’s strategy to trim down the aspirant list to a more manageable size ahead of their upcoming November Delegates Conference.
Dr, Konadu Apraku is one of the 10 hopefuls and also one of the five from the Ashanti region. He was appointed Minister of Trade and Industry by H.E President Kufuor after the 2000 elections.
In an interview with Muheeb Saed, Programs Manager for Freedom of Expression at the Media Foundation of West Africa, MFWA believes that Dr. Apraku has almost no chance of being one of the five past the Superdelegates Conference.
Reasons being that “Dr. Kunadu Apraku has no remarkable achievement to brand as reasons why he should be voted for as a superdelegate or a flagbearer. He has been absent from the current NPP administration. He hardly lives in the country, which makes him lose touch with the grassroots of the party. The country as a whole hardly hear from him as a politician.”
Adding up, he was one of the several candidates who wanted to succeed H.E. President Kufuor as President and stood as flagbearer of the NPP when the President was leaving. He still carries the baggage of losing a competition that was less competitive.
He added that Dr. Apraku being one of the five candidates from the Ashanti region makes it worse as well. Voting will be split up due to the number of candidates from the region. This might end up affecting Alan Kyerematen’s chances of winning. If it makes Alan less of a winner, Apraku isn’t close, he posits.
