Alan was the only hope of the NPP for election

I dare say that Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen was the only hope of the NPP for election 2024. Even though there are general public sentiments that this government has disappointed Ghanaians and they may reject the NPP, I believe that Alan prior to his exit from the NPP flag bearer race was the only candidate in the race that Ghanaians could cut some slack to some extent and consider for selection in election 2024 if voted as flag bearer of the party.

I assert this based on several factors and one is that Alan was the least exposed candidate to controversy in the media in the NPP flag bearer race. Serving in his former role as Trade Minister, and serving in the other senior capacities that he did in this government, one would have expected that all the controversies surrounding the government business would have entangled him but no.

He was a silent part of government and this silence makes it easier for Ghanaians to accept a message that disassociates him from the regime as compared to the other candidates that have been entangled in the controversies that are exposed in the media.

Also, Alan was the only leading candidate in the race with no direct traceable corrupt and deceitful political history reported in the media. My inability to unearth any media report citing a direct involvement of him in unscrupulous activities got me asking, “Is this man without blemish?”.

This is a very astonishing observation in our politics especially for one who has been active all these years and it is worth praising and emulating. This certainly must have contributed to his team touting him as one who epitomises credibility, character, and competence. This could have been a strong selling point for him and the NPP party if he was elected as the flag bearer.

In fact, for the most part of the internal party conversations surrounding the downsides of his candidacy, the perceived lack of financial resources to outcompete his opponents to win the flagbearer election dominated. The conversation has never been about people alluding to or accusing him of some damning information which questions his credibility and integrity.

From the external NPP party perspective, a study conducted by the polling organisation, ipoll among NDC delegates asking them who they thought was the most competitive among the NPP flag bearer candidates against their party NDC in election 2024 saw Alan emerging tops.

All these factors both internal and external explained goes to indicate why I am of the view that he was the best man for the NPP going into the election 2024. This clearly is not a view that majority of super delegates of the NPP party shared in considering the results of that election where Alan came up 3rd out of the 10 candidates that contested.

Members of Team Alan believe that the super delegates were ‘super delegated’ not to share in my view with alleged cases of heavy vote-buying and voter suppression. They further believe that Alan left the NPP flagbearer race honourably and left with the little dignity that was left in it.

His decision to resign from the NPP to contest as an independent candidate in election 2024 has got many political analysts and interested parties quizzing whether his decision will hurt him more than it will hurt the NPP party.

In my view, the NPP has lost a gem that had the strong potential of helping them ‘break the 8’.