Aspiring National Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party(NPP), Alhaji Abubakari Abdul-Rahman popularly known as Alhaji Short has debunked claims by his contender in the race, Mr Stephen Ntim describing him [Alhaji Short] as unknown in the NPP for which reason he should not seek the top position in the party.

In an audio rife on social media platforms, Mr. Ntim in an impassioned voice is heard blaming the President for his woes in previous contests and referenced the President’s support for Mr Fred Oware in 2014 which he saw as his undoing in that contest. He further dismissed the candidature of Alhaji Short referring to him as unfit to be amongst the big names contesting for the National Chairman position of the NPP.

A statement issued on behalf of Alhaji Short by his campaign team said it’s unclear as to how much visibility Alhaji Short requires to make himself known to Mr Ntim for him to be qualified to stand for the National Chairmanship slot when he[Alhaji Short] by records is the longest-serving Regional Chairman in the history of the NPP.

“We reject Mr Ntim’s belittling of Alhaji Short as a nobody. It is our view that this unfortunate and unjustified insult raises serious questions of Mr Ntim’s judgment and credibility. What hope is there for an organisation or party, for that matter, whose leader cannot be trusted to have the integrity to provide correct information? the statement questioned.

Read full statement below

TEAM SHORT CONDEMNS COMMENTS MADE BY MR. STEPHEN NTIM IN THE EASTERN REGION

The campaign team of Alhaji Abubakari Abdul-Rahman (Alhaji Short) is outraged and disappointed in equal measure by recent divisive and vindictive comments made by Mr Stephen Ntim, a perennial candidate in NPP national chairmanship race, in a meeting with constituency executives during his tour of the Eastern Region.

In an audio, which has been intercepted by the team, Mr Ntim is heard casting aspersions on H.E. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and our candidate for the National Chairmanship contest of NPP, Alhaji Short. It is not exactly clear what may have set Mr Ntim, who has lost all three previous consecutive bids for the same National Chairmanship position, to have publicly slam the President.

He appears particularly unable to forgive what he describes as the President’s support for Mr Fred Oware in 2014 which he saw as his undoing in that contest. He proceeds to dismiss Alhaji Short, whom well-meaning big wigs of our party have excellent reason to see as the best candidate in the race, as an unknown person in the party and as such not qualified to be the next national chairman of our great party.

We wish to refute Mr Ntim’s assertion that Alhaji Short is unknown in the NPP by seeking answers to the following questions.

(a) Isn’t Alhaji Short a member of the 36-member National Executive Committee that has governed the party since 2005?

(b) Isn’t Alhaji Short a member of the 70-strong (or so) National Council, the second highest body of the NPP?

(c) Isn’t Alhaji Short a member of the powerful National Disciplinary Committee which has 8 members only out of the entire population of the NPP?

(d) Isn’t Alhaji Short the chairman of all Regional Chairmen?

(e) Isn’t Alhaji Short, the fulcrum of the Regional leadership of our party and, as such, a stalwart of our party?

(f) Isn’t it a fact that the ten Regional Chairmen were the campaign managers for their respective regions for the 2016 NPP Campaign?

(g) Isn’t Alhaji Short one of only a few party executives to have won 3 consecutive elections and served 3 full terms in the same position?

(h) Isn’t Alhaji Short the longest-serving Regional Chairman in the history of the NPP?

It is unclear to us how much visibility Alhaji Short requires to make himself known to Mr Ntim.

Alhaji Short hails from the Upper West Region (UWR) which gave us the Right Honourable Chief Simon Diedong Dombo whose magnanimous sacrifice brought the United Party into being in 1957. Alhaji Short’s ubiquity and his visibility within the NPP will have been hard to miss these past years – even for someone who was not looking for him. But, if indeed Mr Ntim missed Alhaji Short, then the NPP must do more to turn its searchlight on the unsung heroes of this party such as Alhaji Short.

We reject Mr Ntim’s belittling of Alhaji Short as a nobody. It is our view that this unfortunate and unjustified insult raises serious questions of Mr Ntim’s judgment and credibility. What hope is there for an organisation or party, for that matter, whose leader cannot be trusted to have the integrity to provide correct information?

This brings us to the bigger issue from Mr Ntim’s unprovoked outburst: his reckless denunciation of the President. That outburst betrays Mr Ntim’s temperament and emotional stamina to be unsuited for the demanding position of National Chairman in Ghana’s largest political party. In February 2010, Mr Stephen Ntim snubbed the declaration of the election results when he lost the chairmanship to Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey and left the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in a huff. Mr Steven Ntim broke a fine tradition where in the history of the NPP National Chairmanship elections the vanquished graciously congratulates the victor after the declaration of results. But, what is worse is his obvious antagonism towards the President. It sets the stage for friction between party and government. It is a recipe for division and disunity in the NPP. It is the motorway to electoral defeat in 2020. Is the party willing to risk the sweat and toil of thousands of party workers, the patience of millions of NPP voters, and the hope of a nation on Mr Stephen Ayensu Ntim’s “lifelong ambition” to be National Chairman of the NPP? Is that ambition worth its asking price?

We urge Mr. Ntim and his campaign team to conduct their campaign devoid of divisiveness in the interest of the cohesion of the party we love. We want to assure delegates and all members of the Elephant family that ALHAJI SHORT will continue to run his issue-based campaign across the country even in the face of provocation and propaganda from our opponents.

God bless NPP!

God bless Ghana!

Thank you.

…Signed…
Communications Director