By: Rebecca Ampah
Former Minister for Trade and Industry and Presidential hopeful, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, has voiced his concerns about the current state of the party, stating that it has strayed far from its original values and principles.
During a press conference held in Accra, Mr. Alan candidly expressed his disillusionment with the NPP’s current leadership and direction. He emphasized that the party, which was originally founded on the principles of fairness, equity, probity, accountability, and transparency, has undergone significant changes that are troubling to him.
“I joined the New Patriotic Party at the very beginning of its establishment as a Founding Member, believing in its core values and the long-standing traditions of its antecedents, predicated on fairness, equity, probity, accountability, and transparency.”
According to him, he is a seasoned professional who has dedicated a substantial portion of his career to serving the NPP. He outlined his concerns, pointing to what he perceives as the “hijacking” of the party by a select group of leaders, government appointees, undisclosed power brokers, and certain party members with questionable intentions.
“I have devoted the best part of my professional career to serving the Party, and I still believe in the vision of the founding fathers of the Party,” Mr. Alan stated during the press conference. “However, the NPP as it exists now has very little resemblance to the Party that I joined in 1992 and helped to nurture, the Party has been hijacked by a selected group of Party leaders and elders, government appointees, “behind the curtain power brokers” and some unscrupulous Party apparatchiks,” he said.
He further stated categorically his unwavering commitment to the principles of the New Patriotic Party even though he has bowed out of the party. He stressed that, his intentions to run as an independent candidate is not to undermine the party but to present a more potential cooperation in a future government
“I wish to use this opportunity to assure the rank and file of the New Patriotic Party that I still cherish my relationship with you, and I am committed to the ideals of the founding fathers of the Party. My decision to contest as an Independent Candidate will not destroy the Party, but rather provide the Party an opportunity to participate in a Government of National Unity in the future,” he added.
