Last Friday, Alan Kyeremanten’s campaign message got hit a hitch when he was cautioned against causing disunity through inciting the nearly 6000 polling station officers of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) against constituency officers and others at the top hierarchy of the party.
In his bid to criticize the 2008 campaign of his arch rival for the flagbearership, Nana Akufo-Addo, Alan’s message is to tell the newly enfranchised polling station officers that a lot of money was given for the 2008 campaign but what was meant to get to polling station executives got stuck at the top and never got to them and that would not happen if he is elected as the NPP’s 2012 presidential candidate.
But, when he repeated this message at the Presbyterian Church Hall, Mamfe, the Akropong constituency chairman of the NPP, Adum Acheampong, alias Acheese, quietly walked to Alan and whispered something in his ear.
Mr Kyeremanten then told the audience of about 500, including the constituency’s 885 polling station officers that “your chairman is accusing me of inciting your against constituency officers.” The chairman later on explained that Alan’s message may be true in some areas but to give it general application is to cause disaffection, resentment and disunity within the party.
In 2008, the NPP campaign money strategy was to present the funds to the parliamentary candidate of the party in the presence of the constituency chairperson and other executives.
Pundits believe that to reduce the 2008 defeat to lack of financial resources for grassroots campaign is too simplistic and false because the NDC used less money on the ground than the NPP which was then the ruling party. The NPP presidential primary takes places in all 230 constituencies on August 7.