My decision on whether to stand again for NPP or not is … – Nana Addo

• Posted on March 7, 2014
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

A buoyant 2012 flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo-Addo has assured his anxious supporters, an impending announcement of his political future will be “good” news.

“In a short while, you will hear a full announcement. But it will be a good one. I promise you that”, Nana Akufo-Addo told  teeming supporters of Ghana’s largest opposition party.

A small impediment to his announcement after a long vacation in the U.K is that, he would have to first present himself to the leaders and elders of the party in accordance with tradition, Nana Addo explained.

The 2012 flagbearer of the NPP arrived in Ghana Wednesday night, after a six month vacation in the United Kingdom ostensibly to mull over his political future after unsuccessful attempts at becoming president since 1995.

“I have had my rest and I have had that commune [with God] and I have taken a decision, a cheerful,” Nana Akufo-Addo said last Thursday.

His latest defeat was in 2012 presidential elections which he challenged in the country’s Supreme Court – and lost.

Supporters turned his Nima residence into a mini-campaign rally with piercing chants and brass band music.

The NPP heavyweight has an unsightly blot of two defeats in presidential elections after losing marginally to the late Evans Atta Mills in 2008 and to John Mahama in 2012.

Who leads the opposition party to the 2016 presidential election is a question that threatens to divide the NPP; some senior politicians like Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, have publicly expressed their desire for a change in leadership.

But even before Nana Akufo-Addo declares his intention as to whether he is running for the nomination or not, many party bigwigs and grassroot supporters have insisted that he must lead the party for the third time.

Analysts feel, regardless of his decision, he will not contest unchallenged.

-Edwin Appiah