SPEECH BY HON. ALAN JOHN KWADWO KYEREMATEN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE FOR THE DECEMBER 2024 GENERAL ELECTIONS AT MOVENPICK AMBASSADOR HOTEL, ACCRA ON MONDAY, 25TH SEPT. 2023 FELLOW COUNTRYMEN & WOMEN; FRIENDS FROM THE MEDIA; DISTINGUISHED INVITED GUESTS; LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. Let me start first by expressing my profound gratitude to you all for accepting my invitation to attend this Press Conference. I give thanks to the Almighty God for His manifold blessings on my life and for His grace and mercy. I wish also to use this platform to express my heartfelt appreciation to each and every one of you, particularly the rank and file of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), who have believed in my vision, who have stood by me through thick and thin, and who have shown unwavering faith in the promise of a bright future for Ghana. Your belief in the possibilities of our nation and your dedication to the ideals of progress, unity and prosperity have been nothing short of inspiring. It is important for me at the onset, to provide a historical context for what has occasioned this Press Conference today. In 1992, when the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was established, a group of young dynamic Business Executives and Professionals came together to establish the Young Executives Forum (YEF) under my Chairmanship. The YEF since 1992, became the financial backbone of the Party and provided significant financial resources to support the Party in all its endeavours, including the seed fund for the purchase of the Party’s first national headquarters building. As Chairman of the YEF, I had the privilege of serving as a member of the National Executive Committee and the National Council of the Party. In addition to this, I served as a leading member of various Committees of the Party. In 1996, after the unsuccessful attempt by the first flagbearer of the Party, Professor Albert Adu Boahen to win the general elections, the membership of the Young Executives Forum nominated me to contest the 1996 Presidential Primaries, alongside leading personalities in the Party such as Professor Adu Boahen, Mr. J. A. Kufour, Dr. Dsane-Selby, Dr. Kwame Sarfo Adu, Mr. J.H. Mensah and Dr. Jones Ofori-Attah. I was prevailed upon by some senior members of the Party, in particular, Mr. Akenten Appiah Menka and Mr. Stephen Krakue, both of blessed memory, to sacrifice the opportunity to contest for the leadership of the Party, and rather support my senior colleague aspirants. From 1996 to 2000, I played a leading role in supporting the bid of the then Candidate J. A. Kufour to win the general elections, and become President of the Republic in 2001. After refusing appointment as a Cabinet Minister in the aftermath of the elections, the President persuaded me to become NPP’s first Ambassador to the United States, a position I served with distinction. I was subsequently appointed in 2003 as Minister for Trade and Industry and Presidential Special Initiatives, to implement a new economic paradigm which I had introduced in 2001, on the assumption of office by President Kufour. Between 2003 and 2007, I led the Government’s programme for enhancing private sector development and ushering a Golden Age of Business in Ghana. In 2007, I joined a distinguished group of seventeen (17) Presidential aspirants to contest in the presidential primaries of NPP. In that election, under very strange circumstances, the electoral process was truncated on the day of the election, on account of accusations levelled against me, of influencing the course of the elections. This strategy was designed to create disfavour against me, in an attempt to diminish my popularity and the massive support I enjoyed amongst the grassroot activists of the Party. In spite of this unfortunate occurrence however, when the votes were finally counted, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo came first, and I was the runner-up. According to the rules of the electoral process, the two of us were programmed for a second run ballot. It was in response to this development, that I made my landmark declaration that, to avoid a further deterioration of peace in an already divided Party, I would make the supreme political sacrifice not to contest the run-off but rather support Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to contest as the flagbearer for NPP in the 2008 general elections. Despite the sacrifice that I made to unite the Party as referred to above, there were very serious post-primary attacks on my supporters all over the country, and an open show of hostility. Some of my supporters were victims of brutalities and continue to bear the scars of that treatment. I made several representations to the then leadership of the Party, drawing their attention to the rancorous and divisive behaviour of some elements in the Party. Regrettably, however, my representations went unheeded. As a consequence, I gave notice of my decision to resign from the Party, in protest against the blatant alienation of my supporters, orchestrated by elements aligned to the leadership of the Party. The protests and reactions from the rank and file of the Party at that time from all over the country, compelled the then Chairman of the Party to constitute a Reconciliation Committee chaired by the then immediate past Chairman of the Party, Ambassador Samuel Odoi Sykes. The Committee upheld all my submissions and prevailed upon me to rescind my decision to resign, which I did, with the firm promise to address all the contentious issues I had raised in my notice of resignation. As a loyal member of the Party, I accepted the plea of the party leadership and joined the campaign team of then Candidate Akufo-Addo all over the country, providing exceptional support to his campaign. Unfortunately, however, all the promises made by the Party leadership were never fulfilled, and indeed the divisive and hostile attacks on my person and my supporters remained for several years thereafter, and have continued to date. It is common knowledge that any Party member who is associated directly or indirectly with Alan, is treated with disdain