President Nana Akufo-Addo has warned he will not hesitate to come hard on any appointee whose presidential ambition adversely affects his government’s progress.
According to him, he expects them to comport themselves and concentrate on their designated positions until it becomes necessary for them to declare their ambition.
However, he says whatever ambition his appointees may have, so far, it has not deterred them from executing their mandates.
“I have no evidence that their ambition is interfering with the work that they’re doing. I have no evidence to the contrary. On the contrary, I continue to see in the cabinet, in the government, people who are working strongly for the [government],” he said on Peace FM’s Kokorokoo.
The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has two years to decide the party’s flagbearer for the 2024 elections.
In the run-up towards the party elections, names including the Vice President Dr Bawumia, Trade Minister Alan Kyerematen, former Energy Minister Boakye Agyarko and others have emerged as likely successors to the President.
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Speaking on the Accra-based radio station, President Akufo-Addo extolled the virtues of some of the likely aspirants.
“I mean, if you look at Owusu Afriyie Akoto’s agricultural projects, he’s very focused on it. If you look at Alan Kyerematen and his industrial agenda, something that is being worked on very, very hard every day, wherever I go, you see those 1D1F projects coming into being.
“Every day, the country is seeing that, yes, these commitments to build the factories in the various areas of Ghana are commitments that are bearing fruit. Bawumia is the chairman of the economic management team that is the position of the Vice President. You see the big efforts that the economy is making against very difficult circumstances.
“All of them are people who work very hard, and as I say, I have not seen, because if that was to happen, I’ll have to act. Assuming that because of someone’s ambition, they place their portfolio aside, when that happens obviously the president cannot be unconcerned,” he said.
Meanwhile, the president says he expects a transparent and free process to elect his successor warning anything short of that will destroy the unity in the party.
“That we should have a transparent, credible, acceptable process for choosing our next flagbearer. The same as I came out of such a process, it should be my responsibility to make sure that the process for choosing the next leader for the NPP is equally free of doubt, or machination or manipulation. That’s for me absolutely key,” he said.
He added that: “And I’m hoping that a level playing field that allows us to elect our next presidential candidate will also bring us a candidate who can unite our party. Because as for competition, whether you like it or not, there will be misunderstandings inevitably. It will bring some form of division to the party.
“But we’re the ruling party, so there’s a responsibility on us to conduct ourselves in a [responsible] way. Cracks in the NPP, if they’re serious, can have a reflection on the state. We’re the ruling party, and if our base is fractured, that fracture can be translated into a fracture in the state. Nobody wants that, and we in the NPP should be the last to accept such a reality in the country.”