A leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr.\u00a0Richard Anane has blamed the\u00a0 two-time presidential candidate of the party, Nana Akufo-Addo for the friction between him and ex-President John Kufuor.<\/p>\n
He alleged that Nana Addo and his campaign team in 1998 approached party elders including the late Bernard Da Rocha and the then party chairman, Samuel Odoi-Sykes to ask Kufuor to step down although he had been voted as flagbearer to lead the NPP in the 2000 elections.<\/p>\n
According to him, Nana Addo\u2019s team approached the party leadership with the reason that John Kufuor was not in good health therefore, leading the party is such a condition could have dire consequences.<\/p>\n
He mentioned that Da Rocha \u201csent them [Nana Addo\u2019s team] from his home\u201d while Odoi-Sykes \u201cjust laughed it off.\u201d<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”crCrc6r5vd5Kdnx76hXAuzdRcRgCtteR”]The Member of Parliament (MP) for Nhyiaeso therefore indicated that recent calls for other flagbearer aspirants to bow out of the race are reminiscent of the 1998 incident.<\/p>\n
After Nana Addo\u2019s landslide victor<\/strong><\/span><\/a>y in the NPP\u2019s super delegates\u2019 congress on August 31, some party members have been advocating for him to go unopposed.<\/p>\n The aspirants who made in onto the list of final five came under pressure to step down<\/strong><\/span><\/a> since the results of the August 31 congress was an indication of which candidate the delegates wish to lead the party.<\/p>\n Mr. Anane’s comments will serve as proof for those who blame former President Kufuor for the supposed split in the party due to his perceived support for Alan Kyerematen.<\/p>\n Two aspirants, Joe Ghartey<\/strong><\/span><\/a> and Kofi Osei Ameyaw<\/strong><\/span><\/a> have bowed out of the race, leaving only three candidates, Nana Akufo-Addo, Alan Kyeremanten and Francis Addai Nimoh will battle it out on October 18.<\/p>\n Dr. Anane is of the view that calls for other aspirants to step down is a show of disrespect to party delegates.<\/p>\n He asked, \u201chow can you disrespect the electorate who have gone to vote for a particular as their presidential candidate for you to come and say that person does not have the swag to contest?\u201d<\/p>\n Addressing party delegates during Alan Kyeremanten\u2019s campaign launch at Lapaz, a suburb of Accra over the weekend, Dr. Anane said Nana Addo and his team hardly accept defeat.<\/p>\n He thus urged party delegates to vote wisely on October 18 because Kyeremanten is the component leader the party needs to win the 2016 general elections.<\/p>\n Dr.\u00a0Anane told Citi News<\/strong>, he has the progress of NPP at heart saying, \u201cit is not that I am an Alan man; I am an NPP and I believe in the right things and I also believe that when you are seeking power, you must e satisfied with the electorate.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n By: Efua Idan Osam\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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