According to Chapter 8, Article 62 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, a Ghanaian of 40 years and of sound mind can contest to be President of our nation.

The powers and duties of the President of Ghana, like any country, are substantially heavy and enormous to be carried by someone who is a ‘presidential material’.

For purposes of clarity in my piece, let me attempt to define what presidential material is. A presidential material, in this opinion piece, is a Ghanaian, apart from satisfying Article 62 of our constitution, who has the aura and fountain of knowledge, admirable demeanor or personality, and national appeal to the citizenry, but not limited to these personal qualities, to dutifully lead them after a general election.

A President in the making should be capable of executing stipulated presidential powers and duties such as being the Commander-in-Chief of the military and leader of the Executive arm of government.

He should be able to use value judgement to take serious decisions like a declaration of war and state of emergency, holding of referendum, and issue of pardons, medals, and executive orders, etc. democratically. Figure 1 depicts our former heads of state of Ghana until now and counting.

A ‘tainted presidential material’ term on the other hand is a Ghanaian who has the qualities of a presidential material but has fallen short of sterling personal qualities and national appeal to the citizenry.

However, an ‘unpresidential material’ is a Ghanaian who does not satisfactorily possess the above personal qualities to be President.

Ghana’s general elections are beckoning in 2024. The voting public will go out on the voting day, December 7 to decide which political Party, and Presidential Candidate should lead them for the next 4 years.

While the largest opposition NDC Party has already massively endorsed the most experienced, and former President John Dramani Mahama as the Presidential Candidate for the Party come 2024, the governing NPP party is yet to conduct its presidential and parliamentary primaries.

The opening and closing of the NPP’s presidential nominations saw about ten aspirants file their nominations accordingly who are going through vetting now by their Party’s officials. Among the ten contenders, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Alan John Kwadwo Kyeremateng (Alan Cash), and Kennedy Ohene Agyapong are considered the leading contenders in the race. 

Below are my reasons supporting why the three leading NPP Presidential Contenders are either unpresidential or tainted presidential materials.

Kennedy Ohene Agypong-Unpresidential material

Here are some cardinal reasons that may qualify Kennedy Agyapong in the unpresidential material category. He is known for openly insulting and threatening a judge for a Case involving him in a High Court. He was once hauled to the Privileges Committee of Parliament for insulting the House on a live TV show. Kennedy Agyapong was also caught on tape to have described the NPP fraternity of insanity and he did not know why he was part of it.

Additionally, the untimely demise of Ahmed Suale of the Tiger PI was linked to Kennedy Agyapong following his threats to the life of the late Ahmed Suale.

Not very long ago, Kennedy Agyapong claimed on live TV that various public markets were burning due to the involvement of some NDC officials. He then threatened that if there were further market fire accidents, the houses of former President Mahama, the NDC National Chairman, the former National Organizer, the former National Security Coordinator of Ghana, etc. would also be burned down. This was a highly dangerous and inflammable statement from an MP!

Although Kennedy Agyapong said he got money and many kids, those are not the most deciding variables for the presidency but rather his temperament, aura and fountain of knowledge, admirable demeanor and national appeal to the citizenry that matter the most, which I doubt his presidential material potential.

 Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia-Tainted presidential material

As for Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, he is practically a step away to be President by being the vice President of Ghana. However, he has so discredited himself with his unguarded political pronouncements that such pronouncements have come back to haunt him now. He has therefore become tainted presidential material for the NPP Party as espoused below.

Looking at the NPP Party’s tradition, it has never favoured a Northerner leading them as well as the ‘cue system of leadership’ (with Alan Cash considered to be in cue after Nana Akufo-Addo). It will therefore be surprising to many Ghanaians including myself if he is unable to get the nod as the NPP Presidential Candidate for 2024, which could thwart his presidential ambition in the long round.

Leaving the NPP’s tradition aside, one most critical variable that has badly coloured or tainted Dr. Bawumia currently is that he has failed to address the economic mess under this government as the head of the Economic Management Team (EMT).

Additionally, by his description, the current exchange rate of the Cedi against the US Dollar has escaped JAIL and badly exposed the weak economic fundamentals of Ghana under his watch! This rather shows his super incompetence in handling the economy, which diametrically opposed his description of the previous Mahama-led government!

Another crucially vital factor to consider in Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s tainted case is that he cannot separate Akudo-Addo’s appalling record on various fronts from his vision now. This is highly disingenuous and politically suicidal, in my opinion, for him if he attempts to strongly disassociate himself from the current situation as the vice President of this regime.

Alan Cash-Tainted presidential material

The NPP’s tradition of selecting a Presidential Candidate and that person becoming President of Ghana favours Alan Cash. However, current dynamics within the NPP Party seem to be drifting away from his side.

Although Alan Cash is a presidential material based on his capabilities, calm demeanor, and good national appeal, he is also badly tainted like Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia. Here is why!

The political relevance of Alan Cash has waned drastically until now after Akufo-Addo won the NPP’s presidential candidature thrice and became President in the 2016 general elections. Thus, Alan Cash had a brighter presidential chance immediately after former President Kuffour who favoured his candidature then.

However, if the NPP delegates decide not to adhere to the Party’s tradition of a ‘cue system of leadership’ and Akan-preferred Presidential Candidate, then Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia may steal the show in their upcoming internal presidential race.

Another variable that has badly tainted Alan Cash is that he was a member of the cabinet and part of the so-called solid EMT as eloquently announced by vice President, Dr. Bawumia before.

Furthermore, Alan Cash dimmed his presidential chance by never protesting or not resigning early, especially in the first term of the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia-led regime to nurture his presidential ambition. It will also be disingenuous on his part to distance himself now from Akufo-Addo's unimpressive record so far, since Alan Cash was at the center (e.g. cabinet minister and EMT member) of this poorly performing regime.

Concluding remarks

Now, the vetting process is ongoing and subsequent pruning of the number from ten to five aspirants via a Super Delegates Congress, according to the NPP’s constitution.

The journey of the three leading candidates is still far from the Presidential Candidate, as the NPP delegates will finally decide who leads the Party into 2024.

Whoever wins the NPP’s flagbearership race will be saddled with the onus to deal with the highly unsatisfactory record of Nana Akufo-Addo.

The chosen NPP’s Presidential Candidate, in the end, will battle it out with the newly elected Flagbearer of the NDC, former President Mahama, who is likely to win in 2024.

Ghanaian voters are the better Judges to elect their next President on the day of the general elections in 2024. Ghana deserves better leadership than what we are seeing now under this disappointing Akufo-Addo-Bawumia-led NPP government.

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The author, Dr John-Baptist Naah, is a Ghanaian researcher and writer.