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Super Delegates Conference: Our goal was to have Alan Kyerematen in top 5, we succeeded – Buaben Asamoa
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Presidential candidate Alan Kyerematen may have landed the third spot in the New Patriotic Party’s super delegate polls but his team remains unbothered by that result.
According to the spokesperson for the Alan Kyerematen campaign, Yaw Buaben Asamoa, their aim going into the Saturday conference was not to wrestle for first place but to secure a spot for the party’s primaries in November.
He explained, on JoyNews’ PM Express, that the super delegates conference was only meant for the “elite group” in the party to prune down the number of presidential aspirants.
This set of people, although part of the NPP, Mr Asamoa believes do not represent the over 200,000 delegates expected to partake in the flagbearer election in November.
“Yes, they (super delegates) are leaders of the party, but of course, they don’t represent the political opinion in the party…0.004% of 200,000…961 persons representing 200,000 grassroots delegates? We don’t believe that they are representative of the mood and opinion down there.”
“He was supposed to be part of the five and that’s it. We’ve achieved that…We didn’t go in looking for a placement. We didn’t care as long as we were in the five,” Mr Asamoa said.
On Saturday, August 28, six NPP presidential aspirants successfully sailed through the party’s Super Delegates Conference.
The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia led with 68.15% (629) of the total votes cast, followed by Kennedy Agyapong who polled 15.03% (132) of the total votes cast.
Alan Kyerematen came in third with 10.29% (95) of the total votes cast, and Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto came fourth with 3.90% (36).
Although the Super Delegates Conference was expected to help select five candidates, two candidates, Francis Addai Nimo and Boakye Kyeremateng Ayarko, tied for fifth place with nine votes each.
Meanwhile, the Alan Kyerematen campaign spokesperson remains confident that the result in November will be completely different dismissing claims that the party’s history proves otherwise.
“History is not repetitive. So, the history of Nana Addo and Alan Kyerematen is a contest of two very strong personalities fighting for the favour of this party and this party determining that Mr Kyerematen must wait his turn for Nana Addo to have a crack at the presidency.”
As a result, the party rallied behind now President Akufo-Addo garnering more support from him in the lead to the flagbearer selection, Mr Asamoa said, adding pressure was placed on Mr Kyerematen to not run at all.
“So that line is not because he, Kyerematen, declined in popularity, it was because the party was determined to consolidate support behind Nana Addo unequivocally so that the party could take Nanadu into the presidency, which we succeeded in doing,” he noted.
Mr Asamoa noted that the Alan Kyermaten camp is happy to continue their work and campaign in the lead-up to the national conference adding the super delegates conference “was a useful exercise for us.”
Source: Myjoyonline.com
African leaders have been urged to strengthen political commitment and domestic investment to end preventable maternal deaths and AIDS by 2030.
The call comes as African health ministers and policymakers meet in Accra to deliberate on health financing, health security and universal health coverage across the continent.
Mr Edouard Bizimana, Burundi’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and Development Cooperation, made the call on Tuesday at the opening of the African Union’s (AU) 25th Extraordinary Summit on Health in Accra.
He said Africa needed increased domestic investment to build resilient health systems as it continued to grapple with infectious diseases and the growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
Mr Bizimana, who is also Chairperson of the AU Executive Council, said although Africa accounted for nearly 17 per cent of the world’s population, it bore 24 per cent of the global disease burden while having less than three per cent of the global health workforce and only one per cent of global health expenditure.
“Despite maternal mortality declining by nearly 40 per cent since 2000, Africa still accounts for about 70 per cent of maternal deaths globally, while almost two-thirds of people living with HIV reside on the continent,” he said.
Mr Bizimana said the growing burden of NCDs was placing additional pressure on already stretched health systems.
“These figures are not merely statistics. They represent painful human realities, preventable losses and unacceptable inequalities, they remind us that health is not an expense it is a strategic investment and a prerequisite for our sovereignty and development. “he said.
Mr Bizimana said recent global health emergencies had exposed Africa’s vulnerability and underscored the need to expand local production of medicines and vaccines, strengthen the health workforce and improve emergency preparedness.
“Our citizens expect resilient health systems where every mother can give birth safely, every child has access to essential healthcare and every African enjoys quality health services regardless of where they live,” he said.
The two-day summit, being held ahead of the 20th Extraordinary Session of the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government, has brought together health ministers, policymakers and health stakeholders to identify solutions to Africa’s health financing and security challenges.
Madam Florence Samizi, Tanzania’s Deputy Health Minister, called for stronger collaboration among AU Member States to accelerate progress towards universal health coverage.
The summit is being held on the theme: “Advancing Justice, Equality and Universal Health Coverage: Ending AIDS, Tuberculosis, Improving Maternal Health, Addressing Endemic Non-Communicable and Neglected Tropical Diseases in Africa.”
The meeting is expected to adopt the Accra Declaration, a roadmap to strengthen Africa’s health systems and advance health sovereignty by 2030. -GNA
Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana’s Department of Political Science, Dr. Joshua Jebuntie Zaato says the imprisonment of the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, will have little meaning unless it leads to a broader crackdown on illegal mining.
In a post on his Facebook page on the July 21, 2026, Dr. Zaato said the judgment should mark the beginning of efforts to completely eradicate galamsey and hold all those involved accountable, regardless of their political affiliation.
He said the country must work towards restoring polluted rivers, protecting forests and ensuring that people implicated in illegal mining activities are prosecuted.
According to him, those the President has publicly acknowledged to be involved in galamsey should face prosecution.
He called for the prosecution of district chief executives (DCEs), members of Parliament (MPs) and senior political party officials who have been accused of engaging in or supporting illegal mining.
Dr. Zaato further urged the government to take decisive action to end the destruction of the country’s forests caused by galamsey.
He maintained that the imprisonment of Chairman Wontumi would only have a lasting impact if it results in a comprehensive and impartial fight against illegal mining across the country.
By: Jacob Aggrey
