Former Trade and Industry Minister, John Alan Kyerematen has alleged that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has been hijacked by a selected group of party leaders, elders, and government appointees.

He asserted that the current NPP has very little resemblance to the Party that he joined in 1992 and helped to nurture.

He added that he “joined the New Patriotic Party at the very beginning of its establishment as a Founding Member, believing in its core values and the long-standing traditions of its antecedents, predicated on fairness, equity, probity, accountability, and transparency.”

 “I have devoted the best part of my professional career to serving the Party, and I still believe in the vision of the founding fathers of the Party.”

However, he insists the current NPP is not the same.

He made this claim while addressing a press conference on Monday, September 25, 2023, at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel.

“The Party has been hijacked by a selected group of party leaders and elders, government appointees, behind-the-curtain-power-brokers and some unscrupulous party apparatchiks,”’ he alleged. 

He also disclosed that neither he nor his associates are treated fairly in the party.

“It is common knowledge that any party member who is associated directly or indirectly with Alan is treated with disdain and considered an outcast,” he added.

According to him, he has endured all the resentment in the party while maintaining his integrity within the party for the past 15 years.

In light of this and other issues raised, he has decided to officially resign from the party with immediate effect.

The presidential aspirant who placed third during the party’s Super Delegates Congress will contest the 2024 election as an independent presidential candidate.

He explained “My decision to contest as an Independent Candidate will not destroy the Party, but instead provide the Party an opportunity to participate in a Government of National Unity in the future, and avoid the risk of going into opposition with no dividends, in what arguably will be a difficult general election in 2024.

“You can vote for your preferred choice of NPP Parliamentary Candidate and vote for Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen in the Presidential elections in December 2024, to become the sixth President of the Fourth Republic of Ghana.”