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Just minutes after Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo announced that he will contest the presidential primaries of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), dissenting voices within the NPP who also have the same ambition or support other aspiring candidates have made scathing statements which border on party unity and cohesion. Even though Nana Addo�s decision to contest the 2016 presidential elections comes as no surprise to many because it was an open secret, the swift reactions by persons believed to be interested or supporting other potential aspirants must be a source of worry to the NPP. A member of the NPP, Dr Arthur Kennedy says he is not convinced that Nana Addo has learnt his lessons. �I am not convinced that Akufo Addo has learnt his lessons�I believe that as far as the party�s interest is concerned, we need to be very careful about taking back into the fray the same candidate who has lost elections twice for us,� he said. In addition, a former Member of Parliament for the Kwadaso Constituency in the Ashanti Region, Ms Josephine Hilda Addo, who is a known Alan Kyeremanten loyalist, also said that, in her opinion, Nana Addo should give way. Considering that the party is yet to open nominations for presidential primaries, one can only imagine the keen competition that awaits aspirants and the level to which aspirants may go to discredit each other in order to win the primaries. In 2000 and 2004, the NPP as a party also played back statements National Democratic Congress (NDC) members made about the late Professor John Evans Atta Mills, including issues about his health, which might have negatively affected the party�s performance in the polls. It is important to note that most of the negative statements the NDC used against Nana Addo in the 2008 and 2012 presidential election campaigns were a replay of statements his competitors and their supporters made against Nana Addo during NPP primaries. On September 25, 2013 the National Chairman of the opposition New Patriotic Party, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, said factors that led to the defeat of the party in 2008 and 2012 were the creations of party members. Placing the blame squarely at the doorstep of the NPP, the party chairman asserted: �All the false accusations hurled at our candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo, were first employed by his NPP opponents.� His assessment was contained in an open letter to the party, dubbed �An Open Letter to NPP Members and Supporters, New Patriotic Party, Thoughts on the Way Forward�. If what Obetsebi-Lamptey said is anything to go by, then it will be important for the party to ensure that past mistakes are not repeated. Ghana is in dire need of a president who can surmount major developmental challenges such as unreliable power supply, poor quality education, deplorable roads, rail lines, high levels of poverty, unemployment, and access to potable water. Others challenges are the free fall of the cedi, high cost of doing business, and lack of opportunities for the youth. The NPP should not forget that it needs to marshal all resources, human and otherwise, if it needs to win power in 2016.