It’s a known fact. Nothing fictional or contentious at all. Almost every NPP member is aware that the Vice President joined the NPP under some compromising circumstances. According to the NPP’s constitution, a presidential candidate is expected to choose his or her own running mate; however, this is subject to the approval of the Council of Elders of the party.
Even if the conditional clause in that arrangement is merely academic, Bawumia's acceptability as the running mate of Nana Addo in 2008 needed close collaboration amongst party chieftains and lobbying for Bawumia to be considered the running mate of the NPP presidential candidate in 2008.
Perhaps what made Bawumia’s candidature convictional was the fact that Akufo Addo and his team, led by Ken Ofori Atta, presented the strongest case yet to back their choice of Dr. Bawumia. He claimed the former deputy governor of the Bank of Ghana brings with him to Akufo Addo’s ticket a clear disposition as an "economic wizard".
His wizardry, according to his supporters, will complement Akufo Addo’s finesse in law to have a perfect duo ticket for the 2008 elections. The NPP's strict membership code was thus breached to enable Bawumia to get instant recognition and a membership card from the NPP to enable him to run as the running mate of Akufo Addo.
After two unsuccessful attempts in 2008 and 2012, Bawumia had the dream realisation of rising from a virtual political obscurity to political prominence in 2016. In a record voting pattern of endorsement, unprecedented in Ghana's political history, Nana Akufo Addo and Alhaji Bawumia trounced NDC’s John Mahama and Prof. Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang in excess of one million votes in the 2016 elections.
He again partnered with Nana Addo to win the 2020 presidential elections. However, the Vice President seems to be rewriting history on the date he joined the NPP. As the NPP presidential primary heats up, Bawumia’s association with the ruling party has become a topical campaign issue. The legitimacy of that argument is premised on the conservative orientation of the NPP.
It’s a political doctrine that rewards long service and loyalty to the cause of the NPP and its age-long tradition that takes its roots from the United Party (UP) of the late 1950s. The first presidential candidate of the NPP, Prof. Albert Adu Boahene, was elected to lead the NPP in 1992 because of his long association with the UP tradition and his obsessive struggle against the totalitarian rule of Jerry John Rawlings and his (P)NDC.
John Agyekum Kufuor also benefited from the NPP’s conservative disposition to become the President of Ghana from 2001 to the end of 2008. Nana Akufo Addo counted his luck, relying heavily on the same long service award order. Today, some of the party chieftains who are running for the NPP presidential slot are also claiming and leaning on the same factors that ensured that Akufo Addo became president in 2017.
They include Kofi Konadu Apraku, Boakye Agyarko, Kwabena Agyepong, Dr. Afriyie Akoto, and Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen. Reminiscent of the manner in which he was smuggled into the leadership position of the NPP, the Vice President is again meandering and smuggling his way into the league of long-serving members of the NPP. However, in so doing, he is being accused of altering the date he joined the NPP.
He’s been telling delegates of the NPP that he joined the NPP in 2000. If that were the case, why did party chiefs go begging and pleading on his behalf to become Akufo Addo’s running mate in 2008? And the records are there for checks. Does Bawumia think such history, which was recorded as recently as 2008, would easily be expunged from the history books of the NPP?
Even long before he decided to run for the NPP presidential nomination, there were occasional pieces of information confirming when Bawumia joined the NPP. It’s too fresh to deny that, though.
How can Ghanaians trust a potential president who kick-starts his presidential dream with perceived or alleged perjury? His managers should be wary of such actions that may have the tendency to throw Bawumia’s ambition into jeopardy.