NPP Presidential Primaries: Obiri Boahen Explains Why Bawumia is Next After Akufo-Addo

• An NPP stalwart has declared has said vice president Dr Mahamudu Bawumia remains the most likely presidential candidate of the party for the 2024 polls
• Nana Obiri Boahen says Bawumia appeals to both the grassroots and elites of the party just as Adu Boahen, Kufuor and Akufo-Addo were before they were elected to lead the party as presidential candidates
• Obiri Boahen told YEN.com.gh in an exclusive interview on Friday, February 10, 2023, that it is not fair to pin the current challenges the economy is facing on Bawumia

Experienced politician Nana Obiri Boahen has tipped vice president Dr Mahamudu Bawumia to emerge victorious in NPP's upcoming presidential primaries later this year.

He said he has decided to back the vice president's campaign to lead the New Patriotic Party because he is a great leader.

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"He ticks all the boxes of a great leader...he has the magic want to take Ghana to the promised land," he told YEN.com.gh during an exclusive interview on Friday, February 10, 2023.

The former deputy general secretary of the governing party told YEN.com.gh that because he has his ears on the ground, he can easily pick out the candidate that both the party grassroots and elites alike prefer.

"Every candidate I support wins. In 1992 I threw my weight behind Adu Boahen, and he won. In '98 Kufuor won in Sunyani...we threw our weight behind him; and in 2007 I supported Akufo-Addo and he won. That has been my nature...History and tradition are on my side," the private legal practitioner said.

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Keen contest between Bawumia, Kyerematen and Agyapong

When the governing party finally surmount the challenge of setting a date for the presidential primaries, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia will face off with former trade minister Alan Kyerematen and lawmaker Kennedy Ohene Agyapong as his closest contenders.

Although there are other experienced NPP politicians who have declared their intention to contest the flagbearer race, opinion polls show Bawumia, Kyerematen and Agyapong are in the top three.

Bawumia and Kyerematen alternate between the first and second spots, while Ken Agyapong, who started his presidential campaign belatedly takes the third spot.

Bawumia is miles ahead of his contenders

For Nana Obiri Boahen, there although the other candidates would equally make great presidential candidates, Dr Bawumia ticks all the boxes that will ensure victory for the party in 2024.

"He has all the qualities and all the requirements to ensure victory for the party. It's not that the other candidates that have good qualities. It is just that when you put everything together, he is miles ahead of all of them," he said about the man popularly called'Economic Wizard'.

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Asked if the current economic situation is not an indictment on Bawumia's ability to lead because he heads the Economic Management Team of the current government, Obiri Boahen disagreed.

He said while Dr Bawumia's role as a vice president and the chair of the EMT is critical, he functioned as part of a bigger team and not a "shot-caller".

"It will not fair to the challenges in the economy on him," he told YEN.com.gh.

600 NPP delegates in Krachi East pledge support for Bawumia

Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh has reported in a separate story that vice president Dr Mahamudu Bawumia’s flagbearer ambition received a major boost last month.

This is after some 600 delegates from the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Krachi East declared their unflinching support for him.

Dr Bawumia together with Alan Kyerematen, Ken Agyapong and some other aspirants are expected to slug it out for the NPP’s flagbearer position later this year.

Source: YEN.com.gh