10 months ago
Sammi Awuku, a member of the Bawumia campaign team, has refuted rumors
that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party,
is already
thinking about selecting his running mate for the 2024 election. On Tuesday, November 11, he stated that the Vice President is not in a rush to
select his running mate on Joy FM's Top Story.
In his words, Dr. Bawumia "would be taking the views of people he knows and
when he is ready, when the time comes, he would pick the right man" because "he is an extremely analytical person and consults broadly on issues."
Let me first provide a disclaimer. The Vice President clarified that he had not discussed his recommendation to
the National Council with any members of his inner or larger team.
His remark comes amid intense competition among some New Patriotic Party Members of Parliament over who partners with the Vice President.
On the first day of sitting following the flagbearership election, there have been talks among MPs from the governing party about his choice, with several coalitions forming to back the various names that have emerged.
The names include Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, Minister for Energy, Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei Owusu, and Education Minister, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum.
Reacting to this, Mr. Awuku said they appreciate the fact that there is so much excitement about who Dr. Bawumia would choose as his running mate.
However, the Vice President is presently focused on how to unite the party.
He also stated that Dr Bawumia is considering how to sort out the issues about the selection of parliamentary candidates for orphan constituencies.
Meanwhile, Kwadaso MP Kingsley Nyarko has suggested that a running mate must be chosen from the Ashanti region since the region holds the key to the electoral fortunes of the NPP.
“There are a lot of competent personalities from the region, so I don’t think that it is out of place to get someone from there. He [Dr. Bawumia] can decide to choose the running mate from any other region, but I think that a running mate from the Ashanti region will be a step in the right direction,” he said.