Dr Mohamudu Bawumia, a presidential aspirant of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has asked delegates to discard the notion that the party was tribalistic, and vote massively for him to ‘Break the 8’ in 2024.
He said he was the only person the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) feared to see on the presidential ballot and appealed to delegates to unite behind ‘Team Bawumia’ by voting massively for him at the party’s congress in November.
“I am the third person from the North to contest the presidential primary of the party and
the support is across the sixteen regions with everyone supporting Dr Bawumia, because I
have what it takes to win the 2024 elections,” he said.
“We in the NPP are trying to do something that has never happened. We are breaking the
Eight. When the party opened the nomination, I picked the form so I could break the eight
for the New Patriotic Party,” he said.
Dr Mahamadu Bawumia who was addressing party delegates in Tumu ahead of the
November 4 elections, said having won all 16 regions in the Super Delegates Congress,
there was reason why he should be voted for, to lead the party.
“If you look at our party and the antecedents and how we have been maligned, our
opponents tell people that we vote on tribal lines.
On November 4, 2023, we shall send a signal to show them we are not a tribalistic party by
sending a message that we are a national party,” Dr Bawumia said.
“History tells us that the party doesn’t engage in tribal politics when we are electing
leaders, as we are made up of different political groupings from different parts of the
country.
The National Liberation Movement from Ashanti, the Northern Peoples Party from the
North, the Anlo Youth Congress, the Ga People, and the Muslim Association Party came
together to form the United Party, which is now the NPP and that’s our antecedents,” he
explained.|
The Vice President stressed that in the 1954 elections, the Northern Peoples Party won 12
seats with Busia’s party winning just one seat.
This, he said, made the Northern People’s Party the largest opposition party yet it ceded
the leadership to Professor Kofi Abrefa Busia, making him the opposition leader and “it
tells you one thing that the Northern People’s Party was not choosing leadership on tribal
lines”.
He said in recent history, the first Northern candidate who contested in NPP was Alhaji
Malik Alhassan Yakubu, who contested former President John A. Kufuor but the people of
the North voted for J.A. Kufuor as the party wanted the one who could win elections.
That showed that the North did not vote for Alhaji Malik Alhassan Yakubu and that
showed the North was not tribalistic,” he stressed.
In the era of Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama of blessed memory, he stood against the
current President Akuffo Addo, which also showed how the North voted for Nana Akuffo
Addo, further proving why the party does not consistently vote on a tribal basis,” Dr
Bawumia said.
He said the story of the Ashanti was the same as the North, as they do not vote on tribal
lines, explaining further that when Adu Boahen contested, the Ashanti region voted for him
from the Eastern region and not for Kufuor who hails from the Ashanti.
Vice President Bawumia indicated that among those contesting now, he was the most
experienced since he had gone for presidential elections four times and had been well
marketed.
“I know the crowd and the ground, the party has marketed me across the country, and I
know how to beat my opponent,” he told the delegates.
Dr Bawumia pledged to give each constituency ten appointments and each region twenty
appointments towards resolving the problem of the disunity between government and
party.
He said he would make the appointed persons especially those in state institutions to
become Godfathers and God Mothers of the constituency whilst establishing a database
of the needs of the party members.
https://youtu.be/bsJ2RgaX5DQ?si=5_CvgfIo5LbWU_aO
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