In this world, if you are told that you should not say that there is milk in a bottle, then you can say there is a whitish looking liquid in a bottle. It is against this background that we will classify the two main groupings in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) as the Nana Akufo-Addo faction and John Agyekum Kufuor faction.
Whilst the Nana Akufo-Addo faction believes that Nana Akufo-Addo should be allowed to have his choice, the NPP will be taken to the law courts if Nana Akufo-Addo insists on announcing Dr. Bawumia as his running mate. The reason? Dr. Bawumia allegedly got his NPP membership card in 2008.
Page 68 of Dr. Arthur Kennedy�s book �CHASING THE ELEPHANT INTO THE BUSH�, states in part:
�When the issue of Dr. Bawumia�s membership of the party was raised, Dr. Apraku said he had been informed that Dr. Bawumia had a card. The President cut him off. �We are all politicians and we know what is happening, so let us not go there.�
Below are excerpts from Dr. Kennedy�s book:
�Pages 66 and 67 of Dr. Arthur Kennedy�s book, CHASING THE ELEPHANT INTO THE BUSH�, states in part:
�Over the airwaves, it was beginning to leak that it would be Dr. Bawumia and some in the party, including Honourable Kennedy Agyapong were vowing resistance. He condemned the proposed choice and said if Dr. Bawumia was picked, he would leave them to campaign alone. When I was scheduled to respond, some in the campaign urged me to go after him but I refused. I said while I disagreed with his style of expressing himself, he was a very respected party member and that I was confident that when the decision was made, Honourable Kennedy Agyapong would support it fully.
The National Executive Committee meeting was attended by the President, Vice-President and many party elders. After disposing of other issues. Nana Akufo-Addo got up to present his nominee.
He said it had been a difficult decision. First, he had been very interested in picking Hajia but it appeared there was a lot of resistance to that choice by the party.
Then there was Malik who was perhaps best qualified and his personal preference but his choice was made impossible by his implication in the Dagbon crisis. Therefore, he had settled on Dr. Mamudu Bawumia. He acknowledged that while Dr. Bawumia had no association with our party, his father had had a rather complicated association with the Danquah-Busia tradition. He pleaded, however, that �we should not visit the sins of the father upon the son�.
It was a short but very effective speech.
The discussions that followed made me proud as a party member. It was principled and serious. There were strenuous objections to Dr. Bawumia�s nomination by Ama Busia, Harona Esseku, Dan Botwe, Papa Owusu Ankomah, Kwabena Agyapong and myself. Ama Busia was particularly eloquent on that side. She was very passionate, very well-informed and very eloquent. At one point, looking the candidate straight in the eye, she said, �It is very appropriate that the candidate has wisely asked that we should not visit the sins of the father upon the son. Otherwise, I would have a lot to say about what the father did to harm the Danquah-Busia tradition.� The group supporting the nomination were led by the President and included Osafo Maafo, Mike Ocquaye, Bin Salia and the Vice President. On that side, the Vice-President was the most eloquent. The President�s comments were also very helpful to the nomination.�
Pages 68, 69 and 70 also state:
�When the issue of Dr. Bawumia�s membership of the party was raised. Dr. Apraku said he had been informed that Dr. Bawumia had a card. The President cut him off.� We are all politicians and we know what is happening so let us not go there.�
In the end, as Dan Botwe put it, �once Nana Akufo-Addo proposed Dr. Bawumia, he was as good as nominated�
The NPP constitution requires the Presidential candidate to nominate his running mate in consultation with the National Executive Committee. The question was the meaning of �consult�. As someone suggested, just being informed could be interpreted as consultation.
A few days afterwards, I met Prof Oquaye who tried to put it all in perspective. He said it was God who picked leaders and that his ways were not the ways of the world. He urged understanding for Nana Akufo-Addo because he needed someone he could work comfortably with and that Dr. Bawumia would make a good complement to the flagbearer.
In response, I said �I understand all that but many are confused about the commitment to principles of our party. We disqualified many good party members from contesting as Parliamentary candidates because �they had not nurtured the party enough�. How then could we pick as Vice-President, one whose membership of the party was even questionable? Tomorrow, if the national Chairman met any of those he had disqualified on grounds of not nurturing the party, would he apologize to that party member for his disqualification?�
With that, Dr. Bawumia became the NPP nominee for the Vice Presidency.
In picking a Vice-President, one is picking someone, either for his electoral assets or for his/her governing assets. A governing choice is one who would not help you win but once in office, will be an asset.
In picking Dick Cheney, President Bush made a governing choice and almost paid for that at the polls. Many felt there were others who could have brought particular states into the Republican column. Once Mr. Bush was elected, however, most Americans were re-assured to have the very experienced Mr. Cheney by his side. As the world and Ghana faced economic challenges, there is no doubt that Dr. Bawumia would have been an undoubted asset as Vice-President of Ghana. Therefore, his choice could be described as a bold governing choice by Nana Akufo-Addo.�
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