After several months of politicking, Ghana’s ruling party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), will on Saturday finally bring to an end the question of who will be its flag bearer for the 2008 presidential elections.

According to The Independent, which claims a reputation for accurate prediction, says out of the pack of 17 aspirants, the historic Saturday congress is nothing but a neck to neck race between Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen.

In the very beginning, there were 19 contestants, who over the last two years have done everything to prove that they were going to be the first among equals.

“For the records, all of them can be said to be honourable men, very qualified in their own right and by the dictates of the Constitution of Ghana and that of the NPP to offer themselves for the highest position in the land.

Just consider what can be said to be an illustrious roll call:
Vice President Aliu Mahama
Hon. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo
Hon. Hackman Owusu-Agyemang
Hon. Dr. Kwame Addo Kufuor
Hon. Yaw Osafo Maafo
Hon. Papa Owusu Ankoma
Hon Felix. Owusu-Adjapong
Hon. Kofi Konadu Apraku
Hon. Prof Mike Oquaye
Ambassador Dr. Adjei Barwuah
Mr. Alan John Kwadwo Kyeramaten
Dr. Arthur Kennedy
Mr. Boakye Agyarko
Mr. Dan Botwe
Mr. Kwabena Agyepong
Prof. Kwabena Frimpong Boateng and
Mr. Jake Obetsebi Lamptey.

There was, until few days ago, the 18th candidate, former Independent columnist, Lawyer Nkrabeah Effah-Dartey, who was the first to be knocked out on technical grounds, and the 19th perennial NPP presidential candidate, Lawyer Kodua, who knocked himself out.

The paper said in the spirit of the NPP’s democratic tradition, each among this unwieldy number asserted his individual right to contest the number one ticket of their party. Polls upon polls have - at one time or the other - put certain candidates as the winners even at a time when nobody knew who would be delegates for the congress.

Now all is set for the Congress at Ghana’s premier university, Legon. All the over 2,300 delegates who will select the next flagbearer are known, and the various candidates have travelled the length and breadth of the country to make every noise to let the world know they are the potential winner. For a long time the front-runners have been the incumbent Vice President Aliu Mahama, Nana Akufo Addo, Alan Kyerematen, Yaw Osafo Maafo and Hackman Owusu-Agyemang. That at least is what the many polls said.

Talk to any of the candidates or their supporters at this late hour, and they all say they will emerge winners. Politics is indeed something, for all of them know that, only one of them will emerge victorious. Press some of the candidates and they will give an inkling of who they think are the possible winners.

Several of the aspirants, if they had paid heed to the wise words of J.H. Mensah to CHECK THEMSELVES would have withdrawn like Lawyer Kodua, but with human attributes, such as pride and misplaced confidence in the pot, come Saturday all 17 candidates will troop to Legon with their supporters looking for the party's mantle.

The Independent said while not intending to hurt the feelings of any candidate, it believed that Saturday’s Congress will be a straight fight between Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Alan "Cash" Kyerematen.

Other leading contenders like Dr. Addo Kufuor, Vice President A1haji Aliu Mahama, Yaw Osafo Maafo and Hackman Owusu-Agyemang may ruffle the waters as the best outsiders, but the final count will be between Akufo Addo and Alan Kyeramaten.

Nana Akufo Addo certainly brings into the contest a tall PEDIGREE. Not only was his father a former President of the land, but two of his uncles, J.B. Danquah, and William Ofori-Atta, were among the Big Six, celebrated for their sacrifice and contributions to Ghana's Independence. Also his grandfather, Sir Nana Ofori-Atta, is a recognised name in the history of the Gold Coast.

But what is significant is that, Nana Akufo Addo has in his own right created a worthy platform that makes him a hot favourite for the ticket of the NPP.

Nana has been one of the dominant figures for Ghana’s second liberation from military dictatorship in the last two decades. As a young lawyer, he worked closely with General Akwasi Afrifa, Komla Gbedemah and Prof. Adu Boahen to fight the Acheampong regime, and was a leading member of the mass movement that organised the ‘Kume preko’ demonstrations that told Rawlings, and his PNDC that, Ghanaians wanted nothing but democracy. With Kwesi Pratt, Kweku Baako, Charles Wereko-Brobby, Nyaho Tamakloe, Tony Akoto Ampaw, Kwaku Poku, Victor Newman and others, they fought so that Ghana can today enjoy democracy.

In his capacity as Attorney-General and later Foreign Minister under President Kufuor, Nana Akufo Addo made lasting contributions to the legacy of the Danquah-Busia tradition, and can be regarded as a titan among the old generation of the NPP who can be trusted to maintain the philosophy of their tradition.

His main contender, according to the paper, is Alan Kyerematen, in his early 50s - who represents the new face of the NPP and what has become the trend in modern Politics - the election of fairly younger politicians to lead nations.

Alan can also lay claim to a great lineage, through his father, Dr. Alex Kyerematen, who is an icon of Ghana’s cultural grandeur. What Alan Cash, as he is popularly known, has done is to build on the foundations of his father.

Indeed, few years back, the influential Times magazine of the United States listed candidate Alan among one of the 50 persons selected from all over the world who would influence this century.

The Independent, in its own survey of 50 men and women who would influence Ghana's history, included Alan Kyerematen and Nana Akufo-Addo.

Alan may not have captured the headlines as his closest contender, but unknown to many, he was the leading figure in the creation of the Young Executive Forum, a club of young business executives and intellectuals who enriched the campaign of Professor Albert Adu Boahen in 1992 and provided both rich human and financial resources for the NPP.

As the Chief Executive of EMPRETEC, Alan showed his business acumen as he led this global body to empower a number of small-scale businesses. Both as Ghana’s Ambassador to the United States and Minister of State responsible for Trade, Industry, Private Sector and President’s Special Initiatives, Alan has exhibited that he can be a modern face of the Danquah Busia tradition, and successfully keep the Busia-Danquah tradition afloat.

He is reported to enjoy the support of the Young Turks of the NPP. From the paper’s investigations, Alan fully exploited his post as Minister of Trade and Industry to build his campaign network all over the country.

Obliged to be away most of the time as Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Nana Akufo-Addo did not have the full benefit of being a guy around, but his name is a household one for the contribution to national politics and the NPP tradition, and have stood him in good stead.

That simply means the two go into Saturday's elections neck to neck.

The other gallant 15 may have done their best, but in the estimation of The Independent and based on respect for and recognition of what delegates have up their sleeves, the two gentlemen are the ones to watch as the NPP zooms in on Saturday, December 22, 2007.