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A response to Hon. Kyei-Mensah Bonsu for his comments on selection of NPP Flagbearer 2024

By Patriotic Youth Alliance
Rejoinder A response to Hon. Kyei-Mensah Bonsu for his comments on selection of NPP Flagbearer 2024
JAN 21, 2021 LISTEN

It is with great difficulty that the Patriotic Youth Alliance® have had to respond to Hon Kyei-Mensah Bonsu, the Leader of the NPP caucus in parliament due to the enormous respect we have for him.

However, in the supreme interest of the NPP, we have no option than to decry the unfortunate comments attributed to him which have been widely reported by many portals. It is reported that Hon Kyei-Mensah Bonsu is claiming that come the next NPP flagbearer race, consensus shall be used to select the next flagbearer.

To the extent that the honourable Leader has not issued any disclaimer, we hold him as the author of the statements and react to same as follows.

First, the timing for his comments is unfortunate. The party has just returned from an election in which we have suffered many casualties in parliament. The President is still putting together his team to run the country for the next four years. Since such comments have the ability to engender unnecessary debates, it is strategically wrong to make them at this crucial moment. Any such debates if they should arise from these unfortunate comments, can distract the party from focusing on assisting the President to put together his team.

Second, the whole idea of consensus for the selection of flagbearer for the party, is alien to the party's constitution and its ethos. Seeking to introduce such an alien practice into our party, would amount to an overthrow of the party's constitution. We don't expect a lawmaker of Hon Kyei-Mensah Bonsu's standing to be leading any such maneuverings to undermine well-established practices of our party especially when same offend the party's constitution.

Third, one would have thought that lessons from the 2020 elections have been well learnt albeit, the hard way. Here, we recall how PYA® sounded alarm bells in the lead-up to the 2020 elections when some avaricious cabal decided to spit in the face of the constitution and impose candidates on some constituencies. While in some cases, 'mafia' tactics were deployed to disqualify some candidates. The end result is the complete whittling down of the party's strength in parliament. Is the Hon Leader concerned about the current situation and wants to avert a repeat come 2024?

PYA®, like many youths of the party, will not keep silent and allow anyone drive the party into a ditch. It is our hope that the party will be able to break the 8-year political cycle. To do this, we ask for an open and transparent process in the selection of the next flagbearer. We advocate for a process that can unify rather than divide after all is over. No 'kuluulu' will be tolerated!

We ask the party supporters to rally behind a unifier who has the capacity to unite all factions in the party. Predictably, the battle for succession promises to generate an uproar but with a unifier, we can navigate successfully without major losses. Let's barnish factionalism from the party, and stand up against anyone or persons who want to take the footsoldiers for a ride.

To conclude, we ask Hon Kyei-Mensah Bonsu to apologise to the party supporters, and retract his unfortunate and highly divisive comments.

Long live NPP

Long live Ghana

Patriotic Youth Alliance®

Thomas Boakye

Convener

Nana Ansah

Secretary

Alhajj Suleman

Deputy Convener

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