Former Trades Minister Alan Kyerematen has resigned from the New Patriotic Party again. Mr Kyerematen announced he would be contesting the high office of President of the Republic of Ghana in the 2024 general elections as an independent presidential candidate. Mr Kyerematen announced this at a press conference in Accra on Monday, 25 September 2023. His emblem is the butterfly with the motto: “Ghana will rise again”.

Mr Kyerematen said he took the decision because he has realised his sacrifices are not appreciated by the NPP.

Chronicling events that has led to his decision the former Trades Minister stated in his speech: “In 2007, I joined a distinguished group of seventeen (17) Presidential aspirants to contest in the presidential primaries of NPP. In that election, under very strange circumstances, the electoral process was truncated on the day of the election, on account of accusations levelled against me, of influencing the course of the elections. This strategy was designed to create disfavour against me, in an attempt to diminish my popularity and the massive support I enjoyed amongst the grassroot activists of the Party.

“In spite of this unfortunate occurrence however, when the votes were finally counted, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo came first, and I was the runner-up. According to the rules of the electoral process, the two of us were programmed for a second run ballot. It was in response to this development, that I made my landmark declaration that, to avoid a further deterioration of peace in an already divided Party, I would make the supreme political sacrifice not to contest the run-off but rather support Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to contest as the flagbearer for NPP in the 2008 general elections.

“Despite the sacrifice that I made to unite the Party as referred to above, there were very serious post-primary attacks on my supporters all over the country, and an open show of hostility. “Some of my supporters were victims of brutalities and continue to bear the scars of that treatment. I made several representations to the then leadership of the Party, drawing their attention to the rancorous and divisive behaviour of some elements in the Party.

“Regrettably, however, my representations went unheeded. As a consequence, I gave notice of my decision to resign from the Party, in protest against the blatant alienation of my supporters, orchestrated by elements aligned to the leadership of the Party.

“The protests and reactions from the rank and file of the Party at that time from all over the country, compelled the then Chairman of the Party to constitute a Reconciliation Committee chaired by the then immediate past Chairman of the Party, Ambassador Samuel Odoi Sykes. The Committee upheld all my submissions and prevailed upon me to rescind my decision to resign, which I did, with the firm promise to address all the contentious issues I had raised in my notice of resignation.

“As a loyal member of the Party, I accepted the plea of the party leadership and joined the campaign team of then Candidate Akufo-Addo all over the country, providing exceptional support to his campaign.

“Unfortunately, however, all the promises made by the Party leadership were never fulfilled, and indeed the divisive and hostile attacks on my person and my supporters remained for several years thereafter, and have continued to date.

“It is common knowledge that any Party member who is associated directly or indirectly with Alan, is treated with disdain and considered an outcast.

“I have endured all this resentment, and maintained my integrity within the Party throughout the past fifteen years.”

Mr Kyerematen disappointed in the leadership of the NPP, continued “On the 26th of August this year, I participated in the Super Delegates Conference to shortlist the ten aspirants who had filed their nominations to contest in the primaries. I was selected as one of the five Candidates to contest for the main Presidential primaries scheduled for 4th November 2023.

“After carefully analysing the results of the Super Delegates Conference, I issued a Press Statement on the 6th of September 2023, declaring my intention to exit the process leading to the Presidential primaries. In the run up to the Super Delegates Conference, the National Council of the Party made some of the most controversial and contentious decisions in the history of the Party. They rejected a petition signed by nine out of the ten aspirants, requesting for the Super Delegates Conference to be held in one location, as well as allowing each Delegate to the Conference to nominate five persons, instead of one, in line with the provisions in the Party’s Constitution.

“In my humble and considered opinion, the decisions of the National Council were both unmeritorious and unconstitutional.

“To make matters worse, it was absolutely clear as indicated in my Press Statement of September 6th this year that, the Super Delegates Conference was strategically and tactically skewed in favour of one particular aspirant. The level of intimidation and monetization that characterized the Conference is unprecedented in the history of internal elections of our Party. The subsequent decisions made by the National Council to vary the rules of procedure for the run-off, arising from the Super Delegates Conference, in direct contravention of both the Constitution of the Party and the Guidelines issued by the Presidential Elections Committee, will go down in history as a travesty of justice, and a demonstration of high handedness by the highest decision-making body of the Party, second only to the Annual Delegates Conference.

“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. 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. 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.  

“It was my fervent wish to use the vehicle of the Party to bring my God given talents, experience, and knowledge acquired both locally and internationally over a period of 46 years, to serve our dear nation, Ghana at the highest level of executive authority. 

“It is abundantly clear to me, that my services and contributions to the Party are not appreciated, and that my continuous stay in the Party will create further tension and division, which is an exact replay of circumstances that led to my decision to resign from the Party in 2008.    

“Under the circumstances and given the context provided, I wish to use this platform to announce that I am honourably resigning with immediate effect from the New Patriotic Party to contest for the high office of the President of the Republic of Ghana in the 2024 General Elections, as an Independent Presidential Candidate.” 

Sompaonline.com