Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, the failed presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has officially announced that he has resigned from the governing party with immediate effect.
Disclosing this at a press conference on Monday, September 25, 2023, the former Trade Minister accused the party of pushing him out by various acts by the top hierarchy of the NPP.
According to him, the just ended special electoral college, which he came third, for instance, was “skewed to favour one particular candidate”, noting that all concerns raised by him and other contestants were not given the needed attention.
He subsequently issued a statement to announce his withdrawal from the race on September 5, pointing out that the “various acts of violence and collusion, reported in other Voting Centers, are appalling, unconscionable, and despicable”.
Noting that the NPP did not “appreciate” his intention to use his over 46 years of local and international experience to serve the country at the executive level, hence his resolve to leave the party.
“I joined the New Patriotic Party at the very beginning of its establishment as a Founding Member, believing in its core values and the long-standing traditions of its antecedents, predicated on fairness, equity, probity, accountability, and transparency. I have devoted the best part of my professional career to serving the Party, and I still believe in the vision of the founding fathers of the Party.
“However, the NPP as it exists now has very little resemblance to the Party that I joined in 1992 and helped to nurture. The Party has been hijacked by a selected group of Party leaders and elders, government appointees, ‘behind the curtain power brokers’ and some unscrupulous Party apparatchiks.”
Alan Kyerematen therefore declared his decision to resign from the New Patriotic Party with immediate effect amidst applause and cheers from his supporters.
“My continuous stay in the Party will create further tension and division”, he explained his decision to resign.
He also announced his decision to contest the forthcoming general elections in 2024 as an independent presidential candidate.
“Under the circumstances and given the context provided, I wish to use this platform to announce that I am honourably resigning with immediate effect from the New Patriotic Party to contest for the high office of the President of the Republic of Ghana in the 2024 General Elections, as an Independent Presidential Candidate,” the former minister who has been unsuccessful in his bid to lead the NPP announced.
“To actualise this goal, I will establish and lead a new MOVEMENT FOR CHANGE in Ghana. The brand logo for the MOVEMENT is the Monarch Butterfly, which politically symbolizes change and transformation, hope, and positivity. It also communicates strength, endurance, spirituality, and trust, which are key traits that I cherish as a Political Leader. In Akan, it is known as Afrafranto. The brand motto of the MOVEMENT is “Ghana Will Rise Again,” which symbolizes hope for the future of Ghana.
“The new Movement will be led and powered by the youth of Ghana. Out of the over 17 million registered voters in the 2020 general election, the youth aged 18-35, years constituted over 9.4 million voters representing 55% (Fifty five percent) of the total voters.”