Member of Parliament (MP) for Asante Akim North, Andy Appiah-Kubi, has incurred the wrath of Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin and some NPP members in the Ashanti Region for rubbishing the reported choice of Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh as running mate of Dr Mahamudu Bawumia in the December 7 elections.
On Accra-based Joy FM on Thursday, June 27, 2024, Mr Appiah-Kubi launched into a furious tirade against Dr Opoku Prempeh a.k.a. Napo, and also virtually criticized Dr Mahamudu Bawumia for selecting the Manhyia South MP as his running mate. “I wouldn’t speak to a majority because we have not been consulted as a caucus for us to state our position. But for me Appiah-Kubi, you can solicit my view on that. If it were up to me to choose, I wouldn’t choose him ( Napo). He is not my preference,” the Asante Akim North MP said angrily.
Majority Leader disappointed in Appiah-Kubi
Expressing his disappointment with the outburst of the Asante Akim North MP, Mr Afenyo-Markin told reporters in Parliament House on Thursday June 27 that, as Majority MPs, they all know how running mates are chosen in the party. “We should all respect party rules.You cannot go out of your way to describe your colleague unacceptably,” he charged.
He, therefore urged his colleague Asante Akim North MP to be measured in his language especially, in public.
“We are in this together. There is no perfect person in this world. Let us be measured in the language we use. The flagbearer has the confidence of the party and I believe he will use the structures of the party in making his decisions,” he stated.
Call Appiah-Kubi to order
The MP’s vituperative comments had also irked a group calling itself Concerned NPP Members in the Ashanti Region, who have called for immediate action against him.
The group called on the leadership of the NPP parliamentary Majority and the national leadership of the party to call him to order. They said typical of the Asante Akim North MP, he showed gross disrespect not only to Napo, but worst of all, to the President, the Vice President, and the party at large.
They accused Mr Appiah-Kubi of allegedly working for Education Minister, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, who obviously is not happy about Napo’s selection and has allegedly set out a plot to discredit the Energy Minister after it emerged that Dr Bawumia has presented his (Napo’s) name to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as his choice of running mate.
Excellent choice
The Concerned Ashanti NPP members described Napo as an excellent choice who has the capability not only to support the flagbearer and the party to win resounding victories in the presidential and parliamentary elections but also become an excellent Vice President.
Taking a look into history, the Concerned NPP members said when then candidate Akufo-Addo chose Dr Bawumia as his running mate, some party people rose against it but at the end of the day, he proved the critics wrong by being a major architect in the victories of 2016 and 2020, and also becoming an exceptionally excellent Vice President.
The group therefore, urged the party to take a serious view on the Asante Akim North MP’s outburst to stop him from derailing the agenda to break the 8.
