The New Patriotic Party Member of Parliament for the Subin Constituency in the Ashanti Region, Hon. Isaac Osei, has thrown his support behind the candidature of Mr. Alan Kyerematen to lead the party into the 2016 general elections, the Herald can confirm.
This move by Hon. Isaac Osei, who placed third behind Nana Akufo-Addo and Alan Kyerematen at the 2010 NPP congress, which saw Nana Akufo-Addo win a landlside victory of 78.89%, has caught most political pundits by surprise.
Some months back, on the 8th of January 2014, Hon. Isaac Osei in an interview on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem indicated that he and “the party will support Nana Akufo-Addo if he decides to contest NPP’s flagbearership position for the third time.”
This subtle endorsement of Nana Akufo-Addo’s candidature by Hon. Isaac Osei was after Isaac Osei received a backlash after he was said to have called for the retirement of Nana Akufo-Addo from active party politics, as he had now reached the status of a “statesman.”
For fear of receiving more backlash, Hon. Isaac Osei refused to pick up nomination forms when General Secretary of the NPP, Kwabena Agyepong, indicated that nomination forms were open for prospective NPP flagbearer aspirants to pick on the 6th of June 2014.
However, Hon. Isaac Osei had other others up his sleeves.
In a twist of events, rather than he contesting, Hon. Isaac Osei after series of meetings he held with Alan Kyerematen and some members of his campaign staff, has decided to back Alan 100%.
As a show of his support and goodwill to Alan, Hon. Isaac Osei has instructed his long-serving “Special Aide”, Chieff Mohammed Obosu, to work with Alan Kyerematen as his press aide. Hon. Isaac Osei has also provided monetary and logistical support to Alan as they gang up to ensure the defeat of Nana Akufo-Addo in the 2014 primaries of the party.
Indeed, to buttress this support, Chief Mohammed Obosu is currently on tour with Mr. Alan Kyerematen in the Brong Ahafo region where he is campaigning to win the hearts and minds of NPP delegates ahead of the impending Special Electoral College which will prune down the numbers from 7 to 5 aspirants.
Chief Obosu has confirmed his new appointment as Alan Kyerematen’s press secretary to friends and has begun the campaign with posts on social media website, Facebook, declaring Mr. Alan Kyerematen, in a statement he signed, as “The Transformational Leader.”
In another post on Facebook, the Isaac Osei boy stated that “In considering the harrowing experiences of our not so distant past, it is imperative that, in choosing our leadership, one ought to make a strategic and situational decision rather than a wholesale emotional decision that will keep the party in perpetual opposition. Alan will deliver!”
Chief Mohammed Obosu, the Herald has learnt, was an active member of the Kwabena Agyepong and Paul Afoko campaign teams, who beat Sir John and Jake Obsetsebi Lamptey respectively in the Tamale conference of the party.
Isaac Osei, like he has just done for the Alan Kyerematen campaign, sanctioned the “loaning” of his personal assistant, Chief Mohammed Obosu for use by Kwabena Agyepong, and Paul Afoko who beat Sir John and Jake. Indeed, at the Tamale conference, Chief Mohammed Obosu was a polling agent for Kwabena Agyepong.
It is now clear that the battle lines have been drawn in the NPP. All 3 aspirants who contested Nana Akufo-Addo, Isaac Osei, Professor Frimpong Boateng, Kwame Kodua have all ganged up against Akufo-Addo and now support Mr. Alan Kyerematen. The Herald awaits anxiously the implosion of the party in the coming months.
