Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, a former Minister of Trade and Industry will address a press conference this afternoon to announce his next political move after withdrawing from the governing New Patriotic Party's (NPP) November 4, 2023, presidential primary.

There are indications that he was going to announce his resignation from the NPP and his decision to contest the 2024 presidential elections as an independent candidate, or form a new political party, or join an existing political party, or endorse one of the candidates in the NPP primary, or support whoever emerges winner of the NPP presidential primary on November 4, 2023.

Prior to making his public pronouncement on his political career today, Alan Kyerematen is said be preparing to hand over his resignation letter to the New Patriotic Party, according to information Graphic Online, has sourced from close allies, with some indicating that the option of leaving the NPP was the highest on the table.

As of 9am Monday, checks by Graphic Online indicated that nothing has changed with regard to Alan holding his planned press conference this afternoon. Indications are also that some bigwigs in the NPP are still engaging Alan for a change of mind.

FLASHBACK: Why Alan resigned from NPP in 2008

Is Alan Kyerematen going to quit NPP for the second time because delegates did not vote for him ..?

Enoch Darfah Frimpong Politics Sep - 25 - 2023 , 09:09

By late afternoon today, it will become clearer whether Alan is going to be announcing his political career in the Ghanaian political terrain to the public.

If it happens that he is going to quit the NPP and form his own political party or contest as an independent candidate in 2024, or even join another political party, it will affect the political fortunes of the governing party, particularly the unity of the party.

The NPP has been at the helm of affairs in governance since January 7, 2017, and hoping to break the eight-year cycle of change of government which usually occurs between the party and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).

The speculations about Alan Kyerematen's resignation and independent presidential ambition intensified over the weekends and got NPP members jittery after a poster announcing his planned press conference at the Movenpick Hotel on Monday afternoon was released by his aides and supporters.

Infact, the speculations had actually started earlier before September 5, 2023, the day he announced his withdrawal from the NPP presidential race.

Alan was shortlisted as part of the top five candidates who were going into the final selection on November 4, 2023, but some people believed that he would have lost the November 4 election, considering the popularity gained by Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia and Kennedy Ohene Agyapong as the leading candidates in the Super Delegates conference.

Alan placed third in the August 2023 Special Delegates conference having garnered less than 100 votes out of the over 900 votes.

Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, considered by some as a "non-presidential" material who entered the NPP presidential race just recently beat Alan, who had been in the race for more than 16 years.

Alan's name first came up in 2005 as the replacement for the then President John Agyekum Kufuor who was retiring on January 6, 2009, as the leader of the NPP.

In 2007, Alan contested with 16 other candidates and came second, as Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo [now President of Ghana] beat him and became the leading candidate. Akufo-Addo has led the party since 2007 as the first presidential choice and has subsequently beaten Alan Kyerematen in other NPP presidential primaries.

President Akufo-Addo is retiring on January 6, 2025, hence the NPP is looking for a replacement.

President Akufo-Addo's vice, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has shot up as the next preferable choice, with many bigwigs in the party throwing their support behind him. He garnered a convincing endorsement of over 50 percent votes at the special delegates conference held in August 2023.

The larger Electoral College of the NPP will on November 4, 2023, select the next leader. However, Alan Kyerematen expressed his unhappiness with the process that led to Dr. Bawumia's convincing victory in the Super Delegates Conference.

Some of Alan's aides alleged that the presidency was supporting Dr. Bawumia behind the scenes and also influencing delegates clandestinely.

To Alan, his spokespersons and supporters, it was Alan's time to lead the NPP, having waited for over 16 years for his turn and that it is not time yet for Dr. Bawumia whom they claim only joined the party recently to lead. They wanted Alan to lead after which Dr. Bawumia could also then take the baton.

Supporters of Bawumia however think otherwise, and argue that since it was a contest, they should allow the delegates to decide who leads the party.

Will this be the second time Alan was quitting NPP?

Feeling bitter about the loss in the 2007 presidential primary and following the political antecedents, which he said was due to his sidelining, in 2008 Alan resigned from the NPP in a similar move but was politically coerced and later rejoined the party.