Kofi Bentil, Vice President of IMANI Africa, has said NPP flagbearer Dr Mahamudu Bawumia must work with the party officials elected by delegates rather than expect to assemble an entirely different team of his own choosing.

Bentil argued that the party’s internal electoral process had given Bawumia a team selected by its rank and file on TV3’s KeyPoints after the NPP delegates conference.

“When you prepare for war yourself, you build the army you want. But when the war comes to you, you fight with the army you have,” he said.

Bentil praised the NPP for allowing its internal processes to determine the party’s leadership, rather than having Bawumia dictate who should occupy the various positions.

“The MP has done a fantastic thing by rearranging their political processes to elect their leader, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, who has done a stellar job as leader,” he said.

He added that Bawumia had acted wisely by allowing delegates to make their choices.

“So it is the delegates, the people, it’s the rank and file that have picked Kojo Bamba and the rest of the people and said, ‘Dr B, this is the army you’ll fight with,’” Bentil stated.

He also welcomed what he described as the absence of interference from Bawumia in the process.

“One of the things I am happy with is that I have not detected the meddling of Dr Bawumia in all of this. The people have made their choices,” he said.

Bentil believes the elected officials can develop a productive working relationship with Bawumia because their positions emerged from the same party process.

He suggested that Bamba’s previous experience working in a protective role could contribute to how he relates to his colleagues, arguing that the relationship could combine mutual respect with a willingness to support one another.

Bentil maintained that the delegates had made their decision and that the party should now concentrate on working together rather than reopening arguments over the outcome.