Manasseh Azure, in his book, The President Ghana Never Got, reveals that President Akufo-Addo was surprised to learn from sources other than Dr Mahamudu Bawumia that he had chosen Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh (Napo) as his running mate.
According to the book, the Asantehene knew about Dr Bawumia’s choice of running mate two months before it was made known to President Akufo-Addo.
Mr Asantehene had told President Akufo-Addo about the incident three weeks before Mr Bawumia told him, but the president was shocked to hear the news from someone outside his inner circle.
“The Asantehene informed the President. President Akufo-Addo was shocked to hear the news from someone sitting in a room next to him at his home, some 250 kilometres away. But this was no coincidence.”
Dr. Bawumia had already conveyed his intention to former President John Agyekum Kufuor before making the official announcement to President Akufo-Addo. Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo and his family had preferred Dr. Yaw Osei Adutowum to be his running mate.
Other candidates, including Napo and the late John Kuma, who died from what appears to be poisoning, had also expressed interest as running mate.
According to the book, a week before Dr Bawumia conveyed his intentions to President Akufo-Addo, a public opinion poll commissioned by the President had shown Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh as the front-runner with 76.3% support, far ahead of the other candidates.
The poll results were leaked to the media before the president received them, angering him.
According to the book, “information about Bawumia’s selection of his running mate was kept more secure at the Asantehene in Manhyia Palace than at President Akufo-Addo’s Jubilee House or the national intelligence agency he commissioned to investigate.”
“When Bawumia raised his head, Napo told Bawumia that he had been preparing to run for a long time, but that since Bawumia was running, he would step back and support his candidacy. Moved by this gesture, Bawumia nominated Napo as his running mate. Although Napo was not the ideal candidate, as he was perceived as arrogant, he met all the political criteria, the most important of which was that the running mate must be from the Ashanti Region.”
The book also adds that Dr Bawumia had initially chosen a former chairman of the Church of Pentecost, Professor Apostle Opoku Onyinah, as his running mate, rather than Mr Napo.
The book reveals that the news of Dr Bawumia’s running mate was broken on the pro-NPP radio station, Asa’s Radio, the morning after his private meeting with the President.
The meeting was a closed one with no third parties present.
Asaase Radio, owned by the president’s cousin, Gabby Asare Ochere Darko, reported the information came from “sources close to the presidency” and denied any discussions between Dr Bawumia and the NPP Council of Elders.
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