Former Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen has announced that he will be contesting the 2024 Presidential Election as an Independent Candidate.
He made these remarks while announcing his new political party, 'MOVEMENT FOR CHANGE' at Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra on Monday.
Speaking at the event, he said "I wish to use this platform to announce that I am honourably resigning with immediate effect from the New Patriotic Party to contest for the high office of the President of the Republic of Ghana in the 2024 General Elections, as an Independent Presidential Candidate,"
"I will establish and lead a new MOVEMENT FOR CHANGE in Ghana. The brand logo for the MOVEMENT is the Monarch Butterfly, which politically symbolizes change and transformation, hope, and positivity"
He stressed that the new movement takes into consideration strength, endurance, spirituality, and trust.
"In Akan, it is known as Afrafranto. The brand motto of the MOVEMENT is “Ghana Will Rise Again,” which symbolizes hope for the future of Ghana"
The Former Trades Minister believes that his new Movement will be youth driven.
He further stressed that out of the over 17 million registered voters in the 2020 general election, the youth aged 18-35, years constituted over 9.4 million voters representing 55% (Fifty five percent) of the total voters.
Citing reasons for his resignation from the ruling Patriotic Party, he said "I believe I have served my country well and intend to continue to do so. On the 5th of January, 2023, I resigned honourably from my position as Cabinet Minister and declared my intention in a national broadcast to contest the Presidential primaries of NPP"
"On the 26th of August this year, I participated in the Super Delegates Conference to shortlist the ten aspirants who had filed their nominations to contest in the primaries. I was selected as one of the five Candidates to contest for the main Presidential primaries scheduled for 4th November 2023"
"After carefully analysing the results of the Super Delegates Conference, I issued a Press Statement on the 6th of September 2023, declaring my intention to exit the process leading to the Presidential primaries. In the run up to the Super Delegates Conference, the National Council of the Party made some of the most controversial and contentious decisions in the history of the Party"
"They rejected a petition signed by nine out of the ten aspirants, requesting for the Super Delegates Conference to be held in one location, as well as allowing each Delegate to the Conference to nominate five persons, instead of one, in line with the provisions in the Party’s Constitution."
"In my humble and considered opinion, the decisions of the National Council were both unmeritorious and unconstitutional.
"To make matters worse, it was absolutely clear as indicated in my Press Statement of September 6th this year that, the Super Delegates Conference was strategically and tactically skewed in favour of one particular aspirant"
"The level of intimidation and monetization that characterized the Conference is unprecedented in the history of internal elections of our Party."
"The subsequent decisions made by the National Council to vary the rules of procedure for the run-off, arising from the Super Delegates Conference, in direct contravention of both the Constitution of the Party and the Guidelines issued by the Presidential Elections Committee, will go down in history as a travesty of justice, and a demonstration of high handedness by the highest decision-making body of the Party, second only to the Annual Delegates Conference"
Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith
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