Mr. B. J. da Rocha, former Chairman and elder of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Friday stated that it would not be in the best interest of the NPP to receive Mr. Alan Kyeremanten, former NPP Presidential aspirant, back into the party.
He said Mr. Kyeremanten could become a disruptive factor in the party, a stumbling block, and a loose cannon. He said, “The party has an election to win. We should concentrate our efforts on the task ahead and let him go his way in peace.”
Mr. da Rocha was responding to a statement from Mr. Alan Kyeremanten of April 24, this year that he would not rescind his decision to resign and maintained that his decision to quit the party still held.
Mr. da Rocha said he was not convinced that the matters that complained about were as grave and earth-shaking as to make a loyal member of the party quit summarily and unceremoniously. He said the complaints were like flea bites compared with what many loyal members of the party have suffered and endured in the past without even contemplating leaving the party.
Mr. da Rocha said Mr. Kyeremanten’s statements to the NPP chairman resigning his membership came to him as a surprise. He said he was approached by the General Secretary of the party, Nana Ohene Ntow to act as mediator and see whether he could persuade Mr Kyeremanten to change his mind. He said he had two meetings with him, both of which the General Secretary was present but the National Chairman was out of the country, which Mr Kyeremanten was aware of.
He said he told Mr. Kyeremanten that he should not have written the resignation letter while he (Allan) stated that there were certain fundamental issues that had propelled him to resign and unless those issues were addressed he would still stand by his decision to quit. Mr. da Rocha indicated that in the middle of an election campaign, the party could not find time literally to arbitrate what he saw as a dispute between Mr. Kyeremanten and the party.
“I suggested to him that many within the party would interpret his action as a lack of loyalty and commitment to the party. His response was that, if anybody thought so, so be it”, he added. Mr. da Rocha also said their second meeting on Tuesday, April 23, 2008, ended with a proposal by him, (da Rocha) that he would report the outcome to the National Executive for that body to take a decision on whether it would satisfy his conditions for returning to the party or whether it would simply accept his resignation.
He said it was understood that no public statement should emanate from either of them until he had made his report to the National Executive.
He said it would be a very bad and dangerous precedent for the NPP to allow any member to dictate to the party, the terms on which he would continue to be a member.
“I think Mr. Kyeremanten is bluffing the party. The party should not tolerate such bluff.”
Mr. da Rocha stated that the concluding part of Mr Kyeremanten’s statement was pregnant with meaning and quoted what he said as; “We must also not lose sight of the fact that national interest is superior to the interest of any single party. In this regard, I will soon give a firm indication about the role that I expect to play on the political landscape in the country. This, I believe, will bring hope and confidence to all Ghanaians irrespective of the political or religious affiliation or ethnic background”.
Referring what Mr Kyerematen said in the above paragraph, Mr da Rocha said the clear import of that passage was that
Mr. Kyeremanten has in mind, a national interest superior to the interest of the NPP. He said it was an unequivocal declaration that he has thought for himself a future role in politics outside the NPP. It is obvious that he has no deep-rooted commitment or loyalty to the NPP.
Meanwhile, Mr Alan Kyerematen slammed rumours of his imminent return to the party after his shocking resignation last week.
A statement signed by him on April 24, 2008 said no one should consider him as vacillating on his decision and “thereby displaying inconsistency in thought and judgment” because the issues he raised have not been addressed while talks aimed at having him rescind his decision have been inconclusive.
“I wish to state categorically that I have not rescinded my decision to resign from the party”, the statement said, in part. Mr. Kyeremanten said it appeared that there is a calculated attempt engineered from certain quarters to create public disaffection for him, and stated that while it was true that no single individual is more important than the party to which he had belonged to, it was equally true that national interest was superior to the interest of any single party.
