Chairperson of the Council of Elders of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Hackman Owusu-Agyemang has urged delegates who will be voting on both Presidential and parliamentary primaries not to allow money influence their choice of candidate.

According to Owusu-Agyemang, who is also a former Member of Parliament for New Juabeng North, some delegates are normally influenced by money and other bigwigs during the election of party leaders and this affects the quality of elected leaders.

Speaking on the OTEC FM breakfast show on Monday, June 5, 2023, the former Minister of Water, Works, and Housing, and former Minister of Foreign Affairs advised delegates of (NPP) to focus on the competencies and capabilities of candidates and not the monies that might be offered.

“We are in a moment almost every Ghanaian is complaining of hardships but the 2024 election is also critical to the NPP. The delegates should note this because chances are that some candidates might influence their votes with money. They should rather focus on the capabilities and messages of those who can execute the job,” he told the programme’s host Captain Koda.

The NPP opened nominations on 26 May and the window for filing is expected to close on Saturday 24 June. All aspirants who picked up forms paid a non-refundable nomination fee of GHC50,000.

All the candidates who have picked up forms are expected to file completed documents on or before Saturday 24 June 2023 and, in line with further requirements, they will pay a filing fee of GHC300,000.

Aspirants

As of Thursday, June 1, Boakye Agyarko, the former energy minister, Francis Addai Nimoh, the former MP for Mampong in the Ashanti Region, Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, the former General Secretary of the NPP, Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku, an economist and former Minister for Regional Co-Operation, and Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, a former Minister of Food and Agriculture, have acquired forms to stand in the presidential primaries.

The other people who have also picked up forms are the vice-president, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Kojo Poku, an energy expert, Alan Kyerematen, the former Minister of Trade and Industry, Kennedy Agyapong, the sitting MP for Assin Central in the Central Region, and Joe Ghartey, the former minister of railways development and sitting Member of Parliament for Essikado-Ketan in the Western Region.

Super delegates

At the close of nominations on Saturday 24 June 2023, if all the ten aspirants who have picked up nomination forms go ahead to file, the NPP will hold a super delegates’ conference to trim the number of aspirants to five as required by the party’s constitution.

But the NPP Chairperson of the Council of Elders indicated that “If you are a candidate, ask yourself if you are capable of doing the job. At this moment, the candidates must tell delegates what they can do for the Party. Candidates should be able to convince delegates that they have the competencies and capabilities to manage the Ghanaian economy and also have answers to questions that might emerge going into the 2024 election.”