Ahead of the vetting of presidential hopefuls of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Chairman of the committee, Rev. Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye, has assured that the committee will give fair hearing to all the aspirants and also ensure a free, fair and transparent vetting process.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic last Saturday, Prof. Oquaye explained that aside from ensuring that the aspirants met the qualifications as outlined in the 1992 Constitution, the committee would be thorough in the vetting process to ensure the aspirants also met the NPP’s criteria.
For instance, he said the committee would want to know if the candidate held dual citizenship and was a registered voter.
He said it included whether the aspirant was a registered party member; how long he had served the party and in what capacity and the contribution of the individual to the party.
Prof. Oquaye said the committee would also be touching on issues that could impact on the candidate’s eligibility and the chances of the party as a whole.
“It should be well noted that the findings of the committee will be in the form of conclusions and recommendations which will be forwarded ultimately to the National Council which has power to fully adopt or partly vary or wholly reject the findings,” he stated
Aspirants
Two of the frontrunners for the flag bearer position of the NPP for the 2024 presidential elections are schedule to meet the vetting committee of the party today.
John Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen and Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia will meet the Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye Committee at various times beginning 10a.m. with a third aspirant, Kwadwo Poku also appearing before the committee.
On Tuesday, July 4, 2023, three other aspirants, Boakye Kyeremateng Agyarko, former Energy Minister; Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, a former NPP General Secretary and Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, the NPP Member of Parliament for Assin Central will take their turn.
Three other flag bearer hopefuls, Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto and Joe Ghartey, NPP MP for Essikado-Ketan will take their turn on July 5, 2023 with Francis Addai-Nimoh taking his turn on July 6, 2023.
The committee is expected to submit its report to the National Executive Committee through the General Secretary on Monday, July 10, 2023
Revised timelines
Under the party’s revised timelines for its internal elections, a steering committee meeting has been fixed for July 11, 2023 for the publication of the vetting report.
It subsequently fixed July 12 to 14, 2023, for submission of any petitions to the National Presidential Appeals Committee, which would also sit on July 17 and July 18, 2023 to address any petitions.
The National Council and the National Executive Committee meeting has been fixed for July 20, 2023 to adopt the report, while the list of qualified presidential aspirants would be published on July 21, 2023.
Balloting for positions on the ballot paper will take place on Monday, July 24, while the first notice of poll is scheduled for Tuesday, July 25, 2023.
If the qualified candidates exceed five, a Special Electoral College will be held on August 26, 2023, to prune the numbers to five.
Fresh balloting of the final five qualified candidates will take place on August 28, 2023 with the final notice of poll fixed for August 31, 2023 and the national congress to elect the flag bearer will be on November 4, 2023, while a run-off if any, is scheduled for November 11, 2023.