When Alan Kyerematen resigned from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in April 2008, and attempts were made to bring him back into the fold, a former Chairman and elder of the NPP, Mr. B. J. da Rocha, made a prediction.

Mr. B. J. da Rocha stated that admitting Mr. Alan Kyerematen back into the NPP would not be in the best interests of the party.

He feared being a “disruptive factor in the party, a stumbling block and loose cannon.”

“The party has an election to win. We should concentrate our efforts on the task ahead and let him go his way in peace,” Mr da Rocha said in a report filed by the Ghana News Agency in 2008.

It is now official, after Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen’s personal confirmation that he will run as an independent candidate in the 2024 presidential election.

On Monday [September 25, 2023], Alan formally filed his resignation letter, declaring that he no longer wanted to be a member of the NPP.

Following that, he held a news conference and stated his intention to run as an independent candidate in 2024.

He is presently organising a “Movement for Change” using a Monarch Butterfly as its symbol.

This is a major setback for the ruling New Patriotic Party since the action will have a significant impact on the party’s cohesiveness ahead of the 2024 election.

Since January 7, 2017, the NPP has been in charge of governance, intending to break the eight-year cycle of government change that has alternated between the NPP and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Alan Kyerematen’s resignation and independent presidential ambitions fueled rumours over the weekend, making NPP members nervous when his aides and supporters posted a poster advertising his scheduled news appearance at the Movenpick Hotel on Monday afternoon.

In reality, the suspicions began before September 5, 2023, when he declared his retirement from the current NPP presidential election.

Alan was shortlisted as one of the top five candidates for the November 4, 2023 election, but some people believed he would have lost given the popularity of Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia and Kennedy Ohene Agyapong as the leading candidates in the Special Super Delegates conference.

Alan finished third at the August 2023 Special Delegates Conference, with less than 100 votes out of almost 900 cast.

Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, a “non-presidential” candidate who only recently entered the NPP presidential contest, defeated Alan, who had been in the race for more than 16 years.

Alan’s name originally surfaced in 2005 as a possible candidate for then-President John Agyekum Kufuor, who announced his retirement as NPP leader on January 6, 2009.

Alan ran against 16 other candidates in 2007 and finished second, as Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo [now President of Ghana] defeated him and became the top contender. Akufo-Addo has been the party’s first presidential candidate since 2007, defeating Alan Kyerematen in consecutive NPP presidential primaries.

President Akufo-Addo will step down on January 6, 2025, hence the NPP is seeking for a successor.

President Akufo-Addo’s VP, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has emerged as the next most popular choice, with many party members rallying behind him. At the special delegates meeting in August 2023, he received resounding backing from more than half of the delegates present.

The NPP’s bigger Electoral College will choose the next leader on November 4, 2023.

Alan Kyerematen, on the other hand, voiced his dissatisfaction with the procedure that resulted in Dr. Bawumia’s clear win at the Super Delegates Conference.

Some of Alan’s advisers claimed that the presidency was secretly backing Dr Bawumia and manipulating delegates.

According to Alan, his spokespersons, and supporters, it was Alan’s time to lead the NPP after waiting over 16 years for his turn, and it is not yet time for Dr Bawumia, who they allege only recently entered the contest. They wanted Alan to assume the lead, following which Dr Bawumia might have taken over.

Supporters of Bawumia, on the other hand, claim that because it was a contest, the delegates should pick who heads the party.

Alan is leaving NPP for the second time.

Alan withdrew from the NPP in 2008 in a similar move, feeling resentful over the defeat in the 2007 presidential primary and what he later described as being ignored, but was politically forced and eventually rejoined the party.

But, while those talks to get Alan back to the NPP were going on, former Chairman and elder of the NPP, Mr B. J. da Rocha [dead], issued this warning.

The Ghana News Agency (GNA) story is reproduced below.

Accra, April 25, 2008 GNA report –

Mr B. J. da Rocha, former Chairman and elder of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Friday [April 25, 2008] stated that it would not be in the best interest of the NPP to receive Mr. Alan Kyeremanten, former NPP Presidential aspirant, back into the party.

He said Mr. Kyerematen could become a disruptive factor in the party, a stumbling block and loose cannon.

He said, “The party has an election to win. We should concentrate our efforts on the task ahead and let him go his way in peace.”

Mr. da Rocha was responding to a statement from Mr. Alan Kyerematen of April 24, 2008 that he would not rescind his decision to resign and maintained that his decision to quit the party still held.

Mr. da Rocha said he was not convinced that the matters that complained about were as grave and earth-shaking as to make a loyal member of the party quit summarily and unceremoniously. He said the complaints were like flea bites compared with what many loyal members of the party have suffered and endured in the past without even contemplating leaving the party.

Mr. da Rocha said Mr. Kyerematen’s statements to the NPP chairman resigning his membership came to him as a surprise. He said he was approached through the General Secretary of the party, Nana Ohene Ntow to act as mediator and see whether he could persuade Mr Kyerematen to change his mind. He said he had two meetings with him, both of which the General Secretary was present but the National Chairman was out of the country, which Mr Kyerematen was aware of.

He said he told Mr Kyerematen that he should not have written the resignation letter while he (Allan) stated that there were certain fundamental issues which had propelled him to resign and unless those issues were addressed he would still stand by his decision to quit. Mr. da Rocha indicated that in the middle of an election campaign, the party could not find time literally to arbitrate what he saw as a dispute between Mr. Kyerematen and the party.

“I suggested to him that many within the party would interpret his action as a lack of loyalty and commitment to the party. His response was that, if anybody thought so, so be it”, he added. Mr. da Rocha also said their second meeting on Tuesday, April 23, 2008, ended with a proposal by him, (da Rocha) that he would report the outcome to the National Executive for that body to take a decision on whether it would satisfy his conditions for returning to the party or whether it would simply accept his resignation.

He said it was understood that no public statement should emanate from either of them until he had made his report to the National Executive.

He said it would be a very bad and dangerous precedent for the NPP to allow any member to dictate to the party, the terms on which he would continue to be a member.

“I think Mr. Kyerematen is bluffing the party. The party should not tolerate such bluff.”

Mr da Rocha stated that the concluding part of Mr Kyerematen’s statement was pregnant with meaning and quoted what he said as; “We must also not lose sight of the fact that national interest is superior to the interest of any single party. In this regard, I will soon give a firm indication of the role that I expect to play in the political landscape of the country. This, I believe, will bring hope and confidence to all Ghanaians irrespective of the political or religious affiliation or ethnic background”

Referring to what Mr Kyerematen said in the above paragraph, Mr da Rocha said the clear import of that passage was that Mr Kyerematen has in mind, a national interest superior to the interest of the NPP. He said it was an unequivocal declaration that he has thought for himself a future role in politics outside the NPP. It is obvious that he has no deep-rooted commitment or loyalty to the NPP.

Meanwhile, Mr Alan Kyerematen slammed rumours of his imminent return to the party after his shocking resignation last week.

A statement signed by him on April 24, 2008, said no one should consider him as vacillating on his decision and “thereby displaying inconsistency in thought and judgment” because the issues he raised have not been addressed while talks aimed at having him rescind his decision have been inconclusive.

“I wish to state categorically that I have not rescinded my decision to resign from the party”, the statement said, in part. Mr. Kyerematen said it appeared that there was a calculated attempt engineered from certain quarters to create public disaffection for him, and stated that while it was true that no single individual is more important than

“I wish to state categorically that I have not rescinded my decision to resign from the party”, the statement said, in part. Mr. Kyerematen said it appeared that there is a calculated attempt engineered from certain quarters to create public disaffection for him, and stated that while it was true that no single individual is more important than the party to which he had belonged to, it was equally true that national interest was superior to the interest of any single party.

Source: GNA