By Ebi Kesiena
With President Nana Akufo-Addo stepping down after two terms, ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) is in search of a credible successor.
According to official results, Ghana’s Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia has won the first round of voting in NPP primary elections, held on Saturday to chose its candidate for the 2024 presidential ballot.
This win has pushed Bawumia tops as an early front-runner by analysts and pollsters to run for the NPP in the December 2024 Presidential race.
He won around 68% of the votes in Saturday’s election by party delegates far ahead of rivals and will enter a final primary ballot on November 4 among the top five NPP contenders.
Alongside Bawumia, two other top contenders for the post were Alan Kyerematen, a former trade minister, with 10.29 percent, and Kennedy Agyapong, a prominent lawmaker, with 14.3 percent, the results showed.
Speaking to AFP, local pollster Ben Ephson said, “Bawumia is the most marketable aspirant and he seems to have a lot of support among the super delegates,’’
“He has been formidable and given a good account of himself as a vice president.”
Although, Carlos Ahenkorah, a NPP lawmaker and spokesperson for Kyerematen, said it would be too risky for the party to elect a sitting vice president as its candidate after the recent economic turmoil.
“It will be politically suicidal and strategically unwise for us,” he said.
However, results of the party’s tally were certified by electoral authorities on Saturday.
Ghana is managing its worst economic crisis in years and has entered into a $3 billion loan deal with the International Monetary Fund in a bid to better manage its debt burden.
If he wins the NPP candidacy, Bawumia, a former deputy governor of the central bank could become the first Muslim to lead the ethnic Akan-dominated party.
The NPP, whose stronghold is in Ghana’s Akan-dominated Ashanti Region, has been led by non-Muslims and Akan-speaking candidates since its formation.
But the country’s dynamics have shifted with Bawumia becoming the first non-Akan aspirant of the NPP, demonstrating his strong position as front-runner.
