Accra, April 18, GNA - The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) is in "major shock" as news of the resignation of former Trade and Industry Minister and unsuccessful presidential candidate, Mr Alan Kyerematen, has been confirmed on Friday.

News of the resignation of Mr Kyerematen, one of the high profile presidential aspirants of the party, broke on Thursday night but many supporters were in doubt. GNA sources confirmed the story but they could not give any details.

But the NPP's General Secretary Nana Ohene Ntow has now confirmed the resignation of the man called "Alan Cash" saying it was "a major shock" to him and the party.

Reasons for the resignation, which was submitted to the Party Headquarters on Thursday, have not been disclosed but Nana Ohene Ntow said among the reasons was allegation of intimidation and harassment of his followers after the December 22 National Delegates' Congress that saw him losing to Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in the contest for the flagbearership of the party.

Mr Kyerematen came second in the vote and was persuaded to step down to avoid a second round.

Nana Akufo-Addo obtained 1,096 of the total 2,285 valid votes cast, representing about 47.97 per cent; Mr Kyerematen polled 738 votes representing about 32.30 per cent while the Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama placed third with 146 votes representing about 6.39 per cent. Eight votes were rejected. There were 17 candidates.

Mr Kyerematen was seen as the favourite candidate of President John Agyekum Kufuor and the two men spent time denying the link. Nana Ohene Ntow said if the reports of intimidation and harassment of Mr Kyerematen's followers were true, they were issues that the party could have addressed.

Other top party members are, however, putting a brave face on the resignation of Mr Kyerematen saying it would have no effect on them, as the party is bigger than any individual. Mr Kyerematen made waves with his slogan of "jobs for the people, cash for the people" in his bid for the NPP's presidential slot.

The Man Alan Kyeremanten

Mr Alan Kyerematen, former Trade and Industry minister who resigned from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Thursday, is an enterprising man who has had a long career in the public and private sector.

Mr Kyerematen is a graduate in Economics from the University of Ghana, and also holds a law degree from the same university. He was called to the bar in Ghana, and is a practicing attorney-at-law in Ghana.

In addition, he is a Hubert Humphrey Fellow of the School of Management at the University of Minnesota, U.S.A., having completed one year management studies under the Fulbright Scholarship program at that institution.

Mr Kyerematen was a senior corporate executive with a subsidiary of Unilever International in Ghana who also worked as a Principal Consultant and Head of Public Systems Management with the Management Development and Productivity Institute (MDPI). He was responsible for establishing the Empretec Program in Ghana (an enterprise development program sponsored by the UNDP and Barclays Bank Ghana Ltd.) in 1990.

As Chief Executive, he led in the transformation of Empretec from a small UNDP project into an independent Foundation, which is internationally recognized as a best practice model for private sector development.

In 1998, Mr. Kyerematen was appointed by UNDP as Regional Director to establish and manage the Enterprise Africa Regional Program, an Africa-wide regional program for the development and promotion of SMEs, which is UNDP's flagship program for private sector development in Africa.

Mr Kyerematen is a member of the Council of Governors of the British Executive Service Overseas (BESO) in the UK and also a Board member of other organizations in Ghana.

In 1994, he was listed by TIME Magazine as one of the Hundred (100) Global Leaders for the new millennium, alongside Bill Gates (Microsoft Corporation), John F. Kennedy Jr., and others. He was also Ghana's ambassador to the US early in the administration of President John Agyekum Kufuor.