Former Member of Parliament for Akwatia, Baba Jamal, has challenged the assertion that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s proposal of Energy Minister Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh as his running mate was based on competence rather than regional affiliation.
According to Baba Jamal, the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) flagbearer’s choice was primarily influenced by the fact that the Energy Minister is an Ashanti from Manhyia.
Speaking on Channel One TV, Baba Jamal stated that Dr. Bawumia was pressured to select someone from the Ashanti region which is NPP’s stronghold.
He argued that, the decision to choose Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh was driven by his central role in Ashanti politics, not his competence.
“It was always pick an Ashanti, pick an Ashanti and if you look at it very well, NAPO is the one close to Manhyia and also, NAPO has always been scoring over 80 percent in all the elections that he has contested. More so, he is the closest to Manhyia when it comes to Ashanti politics.
“It is not about competence but about selecting an Ashanti and so we in the NDC are not surprised at all because when you talk about competence, there is no outstanding achievement in his constituency not to talk about his time at the Ministry of Education.”
Baba Jamal noted that, Dr. Bawumia needed the Energy Minister to complement his bid because his acceptability in the NPP is still largely in doubt.
“Bawumia couldn’t have bypassed NAPO because his acceptability in the party was in doubt and he needed a full party man to compliment him and he saw that in NAPO and it coincided with NAPO coming from Manhyia and so it was a good choice for him and so we did not expect him to go beyond NAPO. I even expected NAPO to be announced a year ago and so it has even been delayed” he added.
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