President Kufuor of Ghana introducing his former Foreign Minister, Nana Akufo-Addo as the new flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party,NPP
By Agbeko Azumah and William Yaw Owusu
Monday december 24, 2007
MONTHS of intense and spirited campaigning for the flagbearership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP)climaxed at the weekend with nearly 18 hours of voting which saw Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo emerging as the winner yesterday morning
The contest lived up to its billing as a straight fight between Nana Akufo-Addo, former Foreign Minister and Alan Kyerematen, former Trade and Industry Minister, but technically it failed to produce a first round winner in conformity with the criterion spelt out in the party’s constitution.
Thus, even though by 8.47 a.m. yesterday, the Electoral Commission had finished counting the votes and Mr Akufo-Addo had emerged the candidate with the highest votes, it was still uncertain whether a run-off could be avoided.
However the return of President J.A, Kufuor to the congress grounds at about 9.30 am, fuelled speculation that Mr Kyerematen was going to concede defeat and like the other candidates congratulate the winner.
National chairman of the NPP, Peter Mac Manu gave a hint of a likely line of action when he said, “There are various talks on-going . This is the first time that our congress to elect a flagbearer is going into a run-off. We want to leave this place well-satisfied that the delegates selected a candidate who is capable of winning the 2008 election.”
Mr Kyerematen’s subsequent announcement of conceding defeat was greeted with spontaneous jubilation especially from supporters of Mr Akufo-Addo.
He said : “I wish to congratulate Nana Akufo-Addo for a hard won and well deserved victory even though as the rules stand we are supposed to go into a run-off.
“I wish to concede victory in order for the NPP to preserve the unity and also protect our scarce resources to give our flagbearer the chance to become the next president of Ghana.
“I will support him wholeheartedly, stand solidly behind him to ensure a resounding victory for the NPP in 2008.”
At that juncture the EC declared Nana Akufo-Addo as the presidential candidate of the NPP in the 2008 general election.
All the 17 aspirants were then asked to give a speech to endorse Nana Akufo-Addo as the flagbearer.
President Kufuor congratulated all the aspirants for always working to keep the party’s principles and mandate intact.
He paid glowing tribute to Nana Akufo-Addo, describing him “a defender of the Danquah-Busia tradition.
“I am proud to hand over the batton of NPP candidacy to him and he is going to lead us to victory in 2008.”
President Kufuor also congratulated Mr Kyerematen for showing a “sportsman’s spirit” by conceding defeat.
In his acceptance speech, Nana Akufo-Addo invited the opposition parties to dialogue and debate national issues devoid of insults and acrimony.
“We have built in our country a free and open society and I will do everything possible in order not to let you down.”
Turning to Mr Kyerematen, Nana Akufo-Addo said, “This young man gave me a good run for my money and I appreciate the friendly atmosphere in this contest and his goodwill to concede defeat.”
“The NPP requires a good story teller to go to the good people of Ghana and Nana Akufo-Addo your flagbearer, is here to serve you.”
He promised a resounding victory for the NPP in the 2008 general elections.
Voting itself began at 4.43 pm on Saturday amidst extra vigilance and tight security arrangement.
To ensure a very credible and foolproof process, the names of delegates were mentioned as the various regions and constituencies took their turns to vote.
The names of the delegates were subsequently checked against a photo register and after voting the delegates were made to append their signatures which were fed into a computer.
At about 7.58pm, when delegates from the Volta Region were voting, a commotion erupted which lasted for about 45 minutes and nearly disrupted the process.
It all happened when some supporters of Mr Akufo-Addo began heckling Paul Afoko, a known supporter of Mr Kyerematen, for allegedly distributing money to some delegates in order to win support for his candidate.
Mr Afoko who denied doing so had to be whisked away to safety by the police.
In the midst of the confusion, the National Organiser of the NPP, Lord Commey also went on stage to announce the allegation against Mr Afoko and this further heightened tension.
All the 17 aspirants left their seats to the main auditorium of the Great Hall for some minutes while the party and Electoral Commission officials laboured to restore normalcy for the voting to continue.
Mr Mac Manu publicly denounced Mr Commey’s remarks as unfortunate and promised to conduct an investigation into the allegations.
The votes obtained by the other 15 candidates are as follows: Aliu Mahama, 146 (6.3 per cent); Yaw Osafo Maafo, 63 (2.8 per cent); Dan Botwe, 52 (2.3 per cent); Papa Owusu Ankomah, 34 (1.5 per cent); Hackman Owusu-Agyeman, 28 (1.2 per cent); and Dr Kwame Addo Kufuor, 22 (1 per cent).
The others are: Professor Mike Oquaye, 20 (1 per cent); Jake Obetseibi-Lamptey, 20 (1 per cent ); Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, 19 (0.8 per cent); Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, 12 (0.5 per cent); Boakye Kyerematen Agyarko, 10 (0.4 per cent); Kwabena Agyapong, 9 (0.4 per cent); Felix Kwasi Owusu-Adjapong 9 (0.4 per cent); Dr Barfuor Adjei-Barwuah, 6 (0.2 per cent); and Arthur Kennedy, 1 (0.44 per cent).
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