Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe, a founding member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has said that Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia will not be able to win the support of party delegates to serve as the party's flagbearer for the 2024 general elections.
He claims that the party's internal institutions will work against the Vice President's alleged desire to run for flagbearer of the ruling party.
Speaking on the Alan/Bawumia race in an interview with TV3, the statesman said that while he supported the Vice President's choice to be the President Nana Akufo-running Addo's partner, he would have preferred if he had been independent.
He described how, throughout his political career, the Vice President had been a vocal supporter of the President.
“Bawumia…
I had a meeting. A foreign publication published it. I'll see if I have a copy and present it to you there, where I made it clear that Bawumia cannot become president due to the way our party is set up.
"Bawumia is a gentlemanly fellow. I would have had a different opinion of Bawumia if he had been able to think for himself and not limit himself to always applauding the president's actions or inactions.
I am pretty familiar with Bawumia. In fact, Akufo-Addo pulled me aside and advised me to support Bawumia because people wanted him to alter Bawumia when he was elected as [running mate] some years ago. I was one of his strongest supporters at the time.
"I, together with the late Aliu Mahama, provided Bawumia with the greatest defence. We travelled all the way to his home in Bimbilla. We went everywhere with them, including the Mamprusi region.
On June 22, he said to broadcaster Johnnie Hughes, "Even Accra here till eventually, I was with Akufo-Addo when we introduced him as the running mate to Nana Addo to the leaders of the political party."
The NPP has not yet announced the date of the presidential primary.
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the vice president, and Alan Kyerematen, the minister of trade and industry, are supposedly laced up for battle.
Other names that have surfaced include Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto (Minister of Agriculture), Boakye Agyarko (Former Minister of Energy), Kennedy Agyapong (Member of Parliament for Assin Central), and Joe Ghartey (Former Railways Minister).