The National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Stephen Ntim, has revealed that he has had fruitful discussions with both former and current flagbearer aspirants of the party to ensure the party maintains a strong bond of unity going into the 2024 elections, expected to be keenly contested.

According to him, the NPP will find it difficult to break the 8-year governance cycle that it strongly desires if the party is heavily divided among itself, hence his initiative to reach out to these senior party members, some of whom have grievances.

“I have visited some of the former flagbearer aspirants in their homes and spoken to them except two, and in due course, I will pay them a visit as well. I’ve also gone to Ken’s house to speak with him. I’ve been to Addai Nimo’s home, and I’ve also gone to Alan and Boakye Agyarko’s homes. They raised some concerns, but I think for the fact that I, as the National Chairman, took the initiative to visit them in their homes and spoke to them, they are a bit okay; they can’t be 100% okay.”

He added, “I have visited Alan in his home to speak to him. He did not show any sign of anger against the party. One would have thought that given the reasons he gave for boycotting the flagbearership election, he would have been angry. But from the discussion I had with him, there was nothing to suggest that he was bottling up anger, Chairman Ntim said on Oman FM’s Boiling Point show.

Chairman Ntim took the initiative to meet with the flagbearer aspirants after Mr. Boakye Agyarko withdrew from the run-off election held on September 2, and Alan Kyerematen also withdrew from the presidential primary slated for November 4, 2023.

Mr. Agyarko, the former Energy Minister, withdrew over concerns about the legality of the process and a desire to maintain a principled stance.

In a letter addressed to Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye, Chairman of the NPP’s Presidential Elections Committee, dated August 31, 2023, Agyarko stated, “I refuse to be a part of such an act that seeks to unjustly truncate a previously agreed-upon process and cannot be part of what is about to be done on Saturday, 2nd September 2023. I cannot, with a clear conscience, make such an impermissible concession to such an errant decision.”

Mr. Alan Kyerematen, who placed third in the party’s August 26 special delegates conference, said he opted out of the race following the intimidation of his agents.

He also said the race seems to be deliberately skewed to favour one of the candidates.

“The level of intimidation of varying intensity, directly and indirectly, unleashed on a significant number of delegates at various voting centers across the sixteen regions is unprecedented in the history of our party.”

“In addition, the fact that my polling agent in the North-East region has suffered severe damage to his eyesight, arising from his bold and courageous effort to ensure compliance with the very rules and regulations for the conduct of the elections as approved by the Presidential Elections Committee, will forever remain a dark spot in the history of internal elections within the Party.

This incident and various acts of violence and collusion reported in other voting centers are appalling, unconscionable, and despicable. I am committed to and value the safety of those who work with me and for me, and I will always fight for their interests.”