Dr. Kwabena Duffuor, a former Finance Minister, has decided to withdraw from the flagbearership race of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). He had been one of the three presidential aspirants vying for leadership within the party after the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections on May 13.
The elections have been surrounded by allegations of a bloated voter register and various other discrepancies. Dr. Duffuor expressed concerns about these irregularities in the party’s voter register prior to the primaries. He accused the party leadership of breaking their agreement and assurances to address the issues raised regarding the register.
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During a press conference, Dr. Duffuor mentioned that a meeting chaired by the former Speaker of Parliament, Rt Hori Edward Doe Adjaho, had resulted in an agreement among all stakeholders. It was decided that the Party Chairman, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, would promptly establish a technical team consisting of representatives from the three presidential aspirants and the party’s election committee. The team’s purpose was to resolve the irregularities in the voter register before the Presidential primaries and submit a report to the parties. However, Dr. Duffuor stated that despite these assurances, the party executives held a press conference announcing that the elections would proceed the next day, without resolving the concerns about the voter register as agreed upon by the Council of Elders.
Due to the perceived lack of readiness by the party to conduct a free and fair election, Dr. Duffuor made the decision to withdraw from the Presidential election. He likened participating in such an election to knowingly drinking from a poisoned calabash. After consulting with his support base nationwide, he concluded that he had no choice but to withdraw.
“My concerns that the party is not ready to conduct free and fair election is evident for all to see. Taking part in such would be akin to knowingly drinking from a poisoned calabash. After consulting with my support base nationwide, I have been left with no choice but to withdraw from the Presidential election as I cannot contest in an election which is blatantly fraught with irregularities regardless of all my efforts to draw attention to same.” He stated
As a result, the upcoming race will now be contested between former President John Dramani Mahama, who will cast his vote in his hometown of Bole, and Kojo Bonsu, a former mayor of Kumasi.
