The former Minister of Trade and Industry and contender for the presidency, after his scheduled press conference for 2 p.m. GMT on September 25, has taken to his X (formerly Twitter) platform to announce his resignation from the ruling New Patriotic Party to contest as an independent candidate.
“I wish to use this platform to announce that I am honorably 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”, he wrote.
He also added, “What Ghana needs now is a new leader and not a new political party.”
Mr. Kyerematen was chosen as one of five candidates to vie for the Party’s flagbearer post on November 4, 2023, following the Special Delegates elections on August 26, 2023.
Mr. Kyerematen stated in a statement made in Accra on Tuesday that the events preceding up to, during, and after the party’s Special Electoral College elections were “strategically and tactically” biased in favor of a certain contender.
He said the pronouncements by some leading members of the party before and after the elections also “lent weight” to his decision to pull out of the race.
The former trade minister said the level of intimidation of varying intensity, directly and indirectly, unleashed on some delegates at various Voting Centers across the sixteen regions was unprecedented in the history of the party.
He said the incidents and various acts of violence and collusion reported in other Voting centers were “appalling, unconscionable, and despicable.”
He added that regrettably, he was not convinced that the circumstances referred to earlier would not persist or even escalate in the next round of elections, for which balloting was scheduled for Wednesday, September 6, 2023.
Mr. Kyerematen stated that he would indicate his involvement in Ghanaian politics in the coming weeks after consulting with his family and well-wishers, as well as numerous stakeholders and interest groups.
He expressed his gratitude to his family, the Alan 4 President (A4P) Campaign Team, and all his teeming supporters in Ghana and around the world and wished other Aspirants well as they continued the journey.
