Former Ghana Ambassador to the United Kingdom Ambassador Victor Smith has said it is a misplaced priority for the ruling New Patriotic Party(NPP) to name a campaign team to be led by Mac Manu when it has no flagbearer for the 2020 poll.

The former diplomat is, therefore, warning President Akufo-Addo to desist from carrying himself as if he is already flagbearer of the NPP for the 2020 polls.


According to the former spokesperson to former president Rawlings, legally, NPP has no flagbearer and so naming a campaign team for 2020 when NDC has not done same doesn’t mean NPP is ahead of the NDC.

“Does the NPP have a flagbearer as I speak to you? No”, Mr. Smith asked host of Asempa monitored by MyNewsGh.com. “So Akufo-Addo is not flagbearer of the NPP. As at now, NPP has no flagbearer.”

Although nominations have closed for the NPP, Mr. Victor Smith said he has heard from some of his friends inside the NPP who are “unhappy about the poor leadership” of President Akufo-Addo over the NPP and there could be “an independent candidate” emerging from the NPP fold.


President Akufo-Addo filed his nomination form as the flagbearer of the governing NPP for the 2020 polls at the party’s Headquarters at Asylum Down.

Special Advisor to the President, Victor Newman picked presidential nomination forms on Akuof-Addo’s behalf at the New Patriotic Party’s Headquarters.

This is the fourth time President Nana Akufo-Addo is seeking to lead the party into the general elections after 2008, 2012, 2016.

The President at the close of nominations was the sole candidate to have picked his forms and will, therefore, be given popular acclamation which is expected to be run simultaneously with the parliamentary primaries in various constituencies with sitting Members of Parliament (MPs) in the country.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, however, the President himself placed a ban on all public gatherings making it quite impossible for the NPP to have the scheduled acclamation for the 2020 NPP flagbearership.