One of the presidential candidates of the New Patriotic Party and former Trade Minister , Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen has stated that he’s the only one who can help his party to win the national election in all the regions where it has traditionally struggled to win.
The New Patriotic Party apart from its strong dominance in its traditional stronghold, the Ashanti Region has struggled to massively improve its fortunes in regions like Volta, Greater Accra ,Western, Central in previous elections held in the country.
For decades of Ghana’s 4th democratic dispensation, the New Patriotic Party struggled to get an elected Member of Parliament in the Volta Region , which is also the the stronghold of the opposition National Democratic Congress until recently in 2020, when Honourable Peter Amewu was elected on the party’s ticket for the Hohoe constituency.
While addressing delegates in different constituencies as part of his Greater Accra Regional tour, the former Trade and Industry Minister said he has a high approval rating in the four regions to win more votes for the NPP at the national polls.
Alan said: “I am the only one that can win Greater Accra, Central, Western and Volta Regions for the NPP as the people of these regions are rooting for me to become the flagbearer of the NPP in 2024.”
The former Trade Minister insisted that he remains the only hope for the NPP to break the eight-year political cycle in the country.
He thus called on the delegates to select a flagbearer who could easily become the next president of the country.
Mr Kyerematen urged the delegates to “listen” to the party’s grassroots who are over six million, and vote for their candidate to lead the party into the next general election.
“As I said, delegates must not only look at their personal benefit but the wider interest of members who put them there,” he said.
He pledged to enhance the welfare and opportunities for constituency executives when given the nod to lead the party to victory in the national election.
Kyerematen has been a leading stalwart and key strategist of the NPP since its inception in 1992. He is a founding member of the (NPP) and has also served on the highest decision-making bodies of the NPP that shaped the Party’s strategic direction both in opposition and in Government.
He served on the NPP National Executive Committee, serving as a Member from 1992 to 2001 as well as on the Economic Management Team and Finance Committee of the NPP. He is also a Founding Member of the Young Executive Forum (YEF), a youth advocacy and lobby group within the Party.
As Chairman of YEF from 1992 to 2001, he symbolized the essence and spirit of the new generation of party leaders.
Kyerematen made an attempt at the leadership of the New Patriotic Party in 2007, capturing 32.30% of votes cast. He was first runner-up to Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo who gained 47.96% of votes cast. He made another attempt in 2010 where he placed second with 20.40% of total valid votes cast to Nana Akufo-Addo’s 77.92%.In 2014, he once again came second to Akufo-Addo in the presidential primaries to elect a flag-bearer to lead the NPP in the 2016 general elections.
At the congress organised to shortlist the number of prospective candidates from 7 to 5, Kyerematen polled 7.97% of the valid votes cast compared to Akufo-Addo’s 80.81%.
In the final presidential primary to select the flagbearer, Kyerematen was first runner-up with 4.75% of the votes while archrival Akufo-Addo received 94.35% of the votes to win the contest.
Currently. he is among ten individuals who have picked up nomination forms in the NPP to contest for the party’s flagbearership race to compete against the opposition NDC’s John Dramani Mahama in the upcoming 2024 Elections.
