Former New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential candidate Alan Kyerematen has received harsh criticism from Chairman Wontumi of the NPP’s Ashanti Region over his decision to leave the party and run as an independent in the 2024 elections.
On September 25, 2023, Chairman Wontumi criticized Alan in an interview on Wontumi TV, calling him ungrateful in light of the NPP’s tremendous support and change.
He claimed that Alan’s decision to leave the NPP was the same as his inflicting ill fortune upon himself.
“…President Kufour made you an ambassador and you were so happy. You (Alan), your girlfriends, your wife and your children enjoyed it so much. You sent them to good schools. President Kufuor also made you trade minister and because of this, you became so rich that you were nick-named Alan Cash.
“…You have enjoyed in the past because of the NPP. As for me, I think this resignation is a curse to him because the NPP has helped him. Look at how the party has helped you. If everyone in the NPP got what you have gotten from the party, none of them would complain of being mistreated,” he said in the Twi dialect.
On September 25, 2023, Mr. Kyerematen addressed the nation in a news conference held at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra and announced his resignation from the party.
He stated that he no longer recognized the NPP because it had treated him and his followers unfairly and that the organization’s current goals and vision no longer reflected the aspirations of its forefathers.
The former trade minister claims that he would run as an independent for president in 2024 with his own organization, Movement for Change.
Mr. Kyerematen was one of the candidates vying to be the NPP flagbearer, but on September 5 he announced his exit from the contest, alleging issues such voting irregularities, unjust treatment, and prejudice during the superdelegates’ meeting on August 26, 2023.
Following attacks on his followers during the NPP’s 2007 presidential primaries, Mr. Kyerematen initially left the party in 2008.
After the NPP was founded in 1992, Mr. Kyerematen has been a proactive member of the organization.
He was a member of a group of young, energetic business executives and professionals who formed the Young Executives Forum (YEF), which went on to support the Party financially and provide significant financial resources, including the seed money for the purchase of the Party’s first national headquarters building.
