Politics of Thursday, 17 July 2014

Source: The Herald

Alan Kyerematen to set up â??NPP Bankâ??

The promise filled campaign of flagbearer aspirant of the New Patriotic Party, Mr. Alan Kyerematen seems to be gathering more steam and momentum as he has unleashed a new set of promises to NPP delegates should he become flagbearer of the party.

The desperation of Mr. Kyerematen to secure the top job in the NPP has seen him, in an interview on Asempa FM on Wednesday, state that he would set up a bank for the NPP, as one of the business ventures for the party.

According to Mr. Kyerematen, he would ensure that all NPP members deposit their monies in the bank, for which those resources would be invested to yield returns for the running of the party’s activities.

This, in Mr. Kyeematen’s view will be one of the business ventures he will set up, akin to the billion dollar businesses allegedly owned by South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC). Checks made by the Herald have showed that the ANC do not own any billion dollar businesses as is being falsely peddled by Mr. Kyerematen.

However, characteristically and spectacularly, Mr. Kyerematen fell short of stating how he was going to raise the GH¢120 million seed capital set out by the Bank of Ghana for Universal banks wishing to enter the Ghanaian market before a licence is issued to them to operate.

This is the second “big” campaign promise set out by Mr. Kyerematen as the race for the flagbearership of the party.

It is recalled that in his continuous bid to woo delegates of the party to vote for him, Alan Kyerematen has told all NPP faithful that when elected as presidential candidate, he would ensure that all executives of the NPP are put on a monthly salary so they can focus on working for the NPP fulltime.

According to the twice-defeated NPP Presidential aspirant, “if I become flagbearer this year, I will make sure that every party executive gets a full time salary, from polling station, constituency to regional as well as the electoral area coordinators so that the person can concentrate on the work of the party.”

After the sustainability and feasibility of this promise by Alan Kyerematen was questioned, he beat a hasty retreat stating through his press aide, Chief Mohammed Obosu that he did not intend to include polling station executives on his payroll.

Calculations made by the Herald Newspaper indicate that the man known as Alan Cash will need some GH¢25 million every month to pay the over 140,000 executives of the party across the length and breadth of the country. This translates into some GH¢300 million a year, calling into question where Mr. Alan Kyerematen was going to get the funding from.

The Herald eagerly awaits the source of funding for Mr. Kyerematen’s promises. It remains clear, however, that Mr. Kyerematen has taken inspiration from the mode of campaigning of his fellow “John”, President Mahama through which he won the 2012 elections – unsustainable and unrealistic PROMISES.