Long before the official announcement of his bid to run for the flagbearer position of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the immediate-past Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen, had already been highly tipped to contest the slot.

Having unsuccessfully made two earlier attempts at leading the incumbent NPP, even without announcing it, many had already projected that this could just be a good time for the politician to give his chances another try at becoming president of Ghana.

And then he did make the long-awaited announcement, giving Ghanaians reasons for which he believes he should be considered as the right candidate to lead the country as its president, but first by winning the NPP flagbearer race.

In his address to the nation on the evening of Tuesday, January 10, 2023, Alan Kyerematen promised to, among other interventions, ensure that Ghana does not return to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Referring to his plan as the Great Transformational Plan (GTP), he said that he would work through some 5 new strategies to ensure that this becomes a reality, eventually saving Ghana from the need to revisit the IMF.

“This is the seventeenth time that we have gone to the IMF over the last 57 years. We promised never to go back but we have gone back. One of the lessons that we have learnt from the recent developments is that Ghana’s economy is still fragile, vulnerable and susceptible to both external and domestic shocks.

“This primarily is as a result of the fact that our economy is highly dependent on the export of commodities with little or no value addition. Indeed, the 5.1% projected GDP growth for the Ghanaian economy for 2023 is based on the anticipated increase in commodity prices.

“To avoid going back to the IMF, we need a new Plan. A Plan that will lead us to a more self-reliant and resilient economy. That Plan must move Ghana from Stability and Growth to Transformation,” he stated.

But this would not be the first time the NPP stalwart has had intentions of growing and building the economy, and even his party.

GhanaWeb takes a look back at two of the major promises he made in 2014 that never saw the light of day because he lost his bid to lead the NPP.

Salaries for all NPP party executives:

In 2014, while campaigning to become the NPP’s flagbearer, Alan Kyerematen promised to institute a system that would ensure that all the executives of the party are placed on salaries.

This was a critical promise particularly because at the time apart from the role of the General Secretary of the party, all other executives may not have been paid salaries.

Providing reasons for this initiative he hoped to implement while speaking in a radio interview on Asempa FM, and reported by The Herald, Alan Kyerematen said it is to allow for the executives to focus on working for the NPP full-time.

“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,” he is quoted to have said in that interview.

Having lost the bid to become the party’s flagbearer in 2014, that promise became one of the unfulfilled ones he had for the party.

NPP bank:

Another major promise the former Minister of Trade and Industry hoped to have implemented after 2014, had he won the bid to lead the NPP, was that he was to set up a bank.

The specialised bank, according to the NPP stalwart, was to serve the members of the party specifically.

Describing it as one of the business ventures for the party that would ensure that all NPP members deposit their monies in the bank, he was hopeful that it would also serve as an investment pool for the party.

AE/WA