Retired educationist and a member of the Upper East Regional New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Council of Elders, Robert Ajene says the election of a flagbearer for the party will be based on competence and not whose turn it is.
Speaking in an interview on State of Our Nation, Mr. Ajene said the party requires a presidential candidate who has the competence and the capabilities to lead it to victory in 2024 and will not elect anybody just because the said person feels it is their turn to lead the party.
“It’s not question of your turn but it’s a question of distinguished services, a question of capability, a question of competence,” he said.
As campaign for the NPP’s presidential candidacy heats up, supporters of the two main contenders have been advancing arguments why their favourites deserve the nod.
Whiles former Trades and Industry Minister, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen’s supporters insist it is his turn to be made the party’s flagbearer since he has been in the “queue” for long, some loyalists of Vice-president Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia say it is high time the NPP purged itself of the Akan party tag by electing the Vice-president who is from the North of the country to lead it.
But Mr. Ajene contended that such arguments are defeatist.
He pointed out that election to any position in the party is based on one’s commitment to the cause of the party and their competence to aid it capture power and has nothing to do with where they come from or how long they have been running for the position.
“Somebody was saying somewhere that now it’s the turn for the North, I don’t agree with those schools of thought. It’s not a turn for anybody. We say go and pass the exams, we don’t say it’s my turn, pass me. It’s defeatist approach to say it’s the turn of somebody from the North”.
He said although he is rooting for Dr. Bawumia to be made the party’s leader, he will be voted for on the basis of his track record and capabilities and not merely because he hails from the Northern part of the country.
