Martin Amidu Writes: Akufo-Addo Has Stacked The Cards For Bawumia Coronation At The NPP Primaries

The media did not fail to inform Bawumia that the President was endorsing his deputy as his preferred candidate for the 2024 presidential election among the NPP candidates who had declared their intention to compete in the party's internal primaries on 4 November 2023.

Nine of the ten contestants for the first round of the NPP primaries on 26 August 2023 to reduce the number of presidential candidates to contest the 4 November 2023 primaries to nominate a candidate for the 2024 presidential election have belatedly come to terms with the smooth machinery imperceptibly established by the family and friends within the NPP to prevent the nine contesting candidates from monitoring the fairness and impartiality of the 26 August 2023 primaries.

Contrary to accepted internal constitutional procedures and practises of the NPP, Jubilee House political appointees, Ministers of State, Members of Parliament, Heads of MMDAs, and party executives from the national, regional, and constituency levels have been instructed to sing their master's voice in support of the President's preferred candidate to win the 4 November 2023 internal contest for the 7 December 2024 presidential election.

Therefore, these nine potential candidates cannot adequately supervise a free and fair election at the super delegates convention and presidential primaries on 26 August 2023.

The petition of the nine presidential aspirants for the centralization of the special delegates election on 26 August 2023 was flatly rejected by the national NPP apparatus on 20 July 2023 under the dubious democratic pretext that there was a level playing field for all the candidates.

As I stated on 1 May 2023: 'However, the next stop in Nana Akufo-Addo's long game is unfolding in the nature of the level playing field being deployed specifically for the contestants for the NPP's presidential primaries to be held on 4 November 2023, which appears to be informed by the outcome of Nana Addo's previous long game and covert influence peddling in favour of his preferred candidate'.Every reasonable and objective Ghanaian should now be aware that Nana Akufo-Addo's previous pledge for a free and fair internal NPP flagbearer election was made for the sake of political expediency and was never intended to be kept.

The fate of the nine presidential candidates competing in the internal primaries on August 26 and November 4, 2023 is pitiful.