Akufo-Addo, Kufuor on NPP campaign team demonstrates united front - Prof. Kobby Mensah

The inclusion of President Nana Akufo-Addo and former President John Kufuor on the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) campaign team is a sign of unity among the ranks and file of the party.

According to Professor Kobby Mensah, a political analyst, their omission from the team would have conveyed the wrong message to NPP followers and opponents, particularly the National Democratic Congress (NDC), about the party’s current disarray.

Speaking in a radio interview monitored by the Ghana News Agency, the political analyst claimed that the campaign team would use the experiences of the two statesmen to propel them to victory in the elections.

“Of the old and the new, and you see that they have positions for former President Kufuor and other statesmen in the campaign hierarchy and superstructure.

“That is demonstrating a certain united front. Not mentioning the names of other people could send a signal of disunity, so they had to mention them as campaign advisors to serve as the superstructure. For me,” he said.

Prof. Mensah said the campaign would “draw on the party’s strength and the strength of the proposed policies much more than the personality of the candidate.”

On Monday, February 19, the NPP announced a campaign team for the upcoming December elections.

The team comprised prominent figures within the party, including former President John Agyekum Kufuor and current President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, former National Chairman Freddie Blay, and former Campaign Manager Peter Mac Manu.

The team aims to mobilise support across the country and strategise effectively towards winning the 2024 election, credible sources told the media after a crunch meeting of the National Executive Council (NEC) in Accra on Monday.

The members of the party’s Council of Elders, including Elizabeth Ohene, Rev. Joyce Aryee, and Chief of Staff Akosua Frema Osei Opare, are also members of the Campaign Team.

The chairman of the campaign team is Dan Botwe, the Member of Parliament for Okere and former Local Government and Rural Development Minister, supported by deputies Fred Oware and Nana Akomea.

The list included the flagbearer of the party, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, who will serve as the chairperson of the campaign committee.

The team also included former top officials of the party, such as the current President, Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo; former President John Agyekum Kufuor; former campaign manager for Peter Mac Manu; and former General Secretary and Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr. Dan Botwe, who will act as advisors.

Prof. Mensah acknowledged the depth of the campaign team but explained that it would not cause any upset to the opposition NDC.

“…I am not sure it will send them (NDC) shivers, but of course, this is a very powerful team. If you look at Dan Botwe, for example, he was part and parcel of Kufuor’s successes in the 2000 and 2004 elections. If you look at Mac Manu, a consummate expert in the field of campaign and election matters,” he said.