Associate Professor of Political Marketing at the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS) Kobby Mensah says the New Patriotic Party (NPP) should bid goodbye to the resolve of ‘breaking the eight’.
Prof Kobby Mensah believes that chance has all but ended, following the resignation of former stalwart Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, who has also declared his intention to contest the 2024 elections as an independent candidate.
“Clearly, if NPP was really serious about ‘breaking the eight’ and there was any significant possibility, I think that his departure to become an independent candidate actually nails that chance of them ‘breaking the eight’,” he stated.
Prof Kobby Mensah was speaking on TV3‘s Ghana Tonight on Monday, September 25 following the earlier announcement in the day by Mr Kyerematen to secede from the ruling party.
The lecturer insists that the Ashanti roots of the former Trade Minister should not be taken for granted and votes will be split between him and the NPP.
“Apart from the fact that he has significant following within the NPP itself, he is from the Ashanti [Region], a crucial constituency for the NPP and, for that matter, where perhaps his following is quite strong
“I don’t see how NPP with Alan Kyerematen’s candidacy and the possible intense competition in terms of campaigning, don’t forget campaigns have effect in elections’ outcomes. If he is able to mount a very rigorous, compelling campaign, I suspect the Ashanti will be one of the significant areas that is going to have a very heavy intensive campaigning
“And that means that he could possibly chip away significant amount of votes to deny NPP the 75 percent and above that perhaps they need to win elections.
“So, I think it is really a big blow to the NPP, especially in the Ashanti Region.”
Meanwhile, Mr Kyerematen says he will launch his campaign in the coming days to outline some of the policies, which will be anchored on the Great Transformational Plan (GTP), a major policy drive during the NPP primaries.