(L-R): Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh (NAPO)
Former Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu has disclosed that he was the person who proposed former Minister of Energy Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh (NAPO) as the running mate of the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the 2024 election, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the immediate past Member of Parliament (MP) for the Suame Constituency, made this disclosure while responding to assertions that he should have been the running mate of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia in an interview on Asasepa Radio on January 23, 2025.
He indicated that he made this proposal after considering all the candidates whose names came up for the running mate position.
“From the Volta Region, I didn’t see any person who had the aura and visibility that Quashigah had. In the Greater Accra Region, we assessed the person we had in mind. We also went to the Central and Western regions to assess the people in contention there.
“The long and short of it is that we can go to the Ashanti Region. I’m going to disclose on your platform for the first time that I proposed Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh. And so for those who were saying that I should have been the running mate, I had already spoken,” he said in the Twi dialect.
The former Majority Leader, who was in office for over 7 years, said that even though he had all the qualifications to be vice president or even the president of the nation, he felt that NAPO was the best person to be running mate at that moment.
He indicated that NAPO was the right person because he could have easily taken over from Bawumia as the flagbearer of the NPP.
“There is no person who goes to the police service who does not aspire to become the IGP. It was not that I did not want it (the running mate position). I have been Minority Leader for 8 years, at that time I had been Majority Leader for 2 years. Before then I served as chief whip, deputy leader and so in terms of experience and maybe knowledge, I can even become president.
“However, there is a time and season for everything and I also thought that the running mate should be someone who can succeed Bawumia seamlessly. That is why I proposed Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh,” he explained.
Watch his remarks in the video below:
I proposed Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh as the running mate to Dr. Bawumia,” Hon. Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu stated.#AsaaseRadio #AsaaseNews https://t.co/EnZZ7uAV9h pic.twitter.com/zHCraQIOOB
— Asaase 99.5 (@asaaseradio995) January 23, 2025
BAI/EK
You can also watch the latest compilation of Twi news below:
Watch as Afenyo-Markin puts Haruna Iddrisu’s Twi proficiency to the test in fun vetting moment