I’m running – Bawumia prompts Majority Caucus
Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia has informed the Majority Caucus in Parliament that he has decided to stand for election in the governing New Patriotic Party presidential primaries when nominations open later this month.
Dr Bawumia announced his intention at a heavily attended meeting of the Majority Caucus on Tuesday evening. In a message to the NPP MPs, the Vice President urged “unity and perseverance”. “Together we can succeed. It is possible,” he said.
Over 100 Members of Parliament have already declared their support for Vice-President Bawumia, who is heavily tipped to win the NPP presidential primaries for the 2024 general election.
The MPs believe the second gentleman of the land is the one who can help the governing party achieve its objective of “breaking the 8”.
The NPP has set November 4, 2023 as the date for its presidential primaries to select a flagbearer for the general election in 2024.
However, if more than five candidates file to run in the primaries, the party will hold a special congress on August 26 to cut the number to five for the main primaries.
Potential aspirants
Roughly ten people so far have declared their intention to contest the NPP presidential primaries.
They include the former Trade and Industry Minister, Alan Kyerematen; the MP for Assin Central, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong; the former Food and Agriculture Minister, Owusu Afriyie-Akoto.
The rest are the former Energy Minister, Boakye Agyarko; the former Railway Development Minister, Joe Ghartey; the former NPP General Secretary, Kwabena Agyei Agyapong; and the former MP for Mampong, Francis Addai Nimoh.
The nomination period for the presidential primaries will begin on May 26 and will end on June 24, 2023. The party has also announced that parliamentary primaries will be held in February 2024.
Nominations will be accepted between 20 December 2023 and 4 January 2024. This means NPP will choose its flagbearer before its parliamentary candidates.
On Tuesday 4 April 2023, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia gave a clear hint that he was preparing to run for the NPP flagbearership in the 2024 general election.
In a post on his verified Facebook page, Dr Bawumia drew a link between his seeming presidential ambition and a verse from the Bible – Matthew 19:26.
Dr Bawumia posted a picture which had the Ghana flag to the left and the NPP’s red, white and blue flag to the right with the inscription “It Is Possible” at the top of the two flags.
Within an hour after it surfaced on his Facebook wall, the post went viral, drawing comments from some of the Vice-President’s 900,000-plus followers on Facebook.