Former Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu has cautioned the New Patriotic Party (NPP) against reducing its presidential primaries to a contest of popularity or eligibility alone.

In an interview on JoyNews’ PM Express on Monday, July 21, the party stalwart stressed that the stakes for the NPP and Ghana are too high for that kind of superficial approach.

“People are coming out there because they satisfy the qualification and eligibility criteria as set out in the party’s constitution or even the national constitution,” he acknowledged.

The context of his remarks followed a comment by host Evans Mensah suggesting that the party’s limited expansion of its electoral college may have opened the door to heavy monetisation of the primaries.

The host noted that the new system, while larger than before, still leaves room for well-funded aspirants to target delegates and influence outcomes.

“But you see, whoever should be the president of this country, we are not looking at just the qualification, eligibility criteria for whoever should be our president.”

His critique, directed at the party’s internal processes and the character of the emerging contest, signalled a deeper concern: the growing focus on who can contest rather than who should lead.

“We are not just looking for a flagbearer,” the former Suame MP declared. “We are looking for a president or a presidential candidate.”

Referencing a pivotal moment in the NPP’s political history, Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu recalled the warning of party elder Kwame Pianim in 2007, when 17 aspirants vied to succeed President J.A. Kufuor.

“Pianim stepped in and made a profound statement that ‘NPP, you’re not looking for a flagbearer. People seem to think that we are looking for a flagbearer. As for the flagbearership, any idiot could become the flagbearer.’ But we are looking beyond the flagbearer, because you are looking for a presidential candidate who ultimately will become the president of this country.”