Private legal practitioner Martin Luther Kpebu asserts that a vote for the butterfly movement is a vote for President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
The lawyer says the Movement for Change leader, Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen, who is spearheading the butterfly movement has been an accomplice of the current regime and close to President Akufo-Addo, making him not different despite his parting away with the party.
According to him, Mr. Kyerematen could have distanced himself from the current regime by resigning at the time things got worse. However, the renowned lawyer says Alan stayed and contributed to whatever the state is being confronted with, making it difficult for him to be absolved from the recent mess.
Mr. Kpebu was reacting to an invitation by a member of the butterfly movement, Yaw Buaben Asamoa, to join them to build a formidable ‘third force’ to end Ghana’s duopoly by wrestling power from the jaws of the New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress.
He told host, Alfred Ocansey on TV3’s the KeyPoints Saturday, November 25, 2023, that his failure to divorce himself from Akufo-Addo when it became apparent makes them birds of the same feathers.
“If you vote for Alan Kyerematen to come to power it is just like voting for Akufo-Addo. A win for Alan means the return of Akufo-Addo. They’ve coexisted all these years. I’ve kept asking, even when the economy was bad, when the hardship started, Mr. Kyerematen couldn’t divorce himself from Akufo-Addo.
“Though some people are saying he stayed because he needed some of the projects to work so that he could get some campaign funds….voters get savvy and become tired of dynasties. So Akufo-Addo has ruled large for the past 16 years so anything Akufo-Addo won’t sell in 2024,” he stated.
He, however, extended an invitation to Mr. Kyerematen to join a new third force he thinks is better.
“Mr. Kyerematen is welcomed to join the new third force, Dr. Yaw Baah of TUC, the Catholic Bishops Conference, Matthew Gyamfi –president of the Bishops Conference, Duncan-Williams, Mensah Otabil and co, they should all get up with their congregation. Chief Imam, Sheik Nuhu Sharubutu, Franklin Cudjoe and co, Kofi Bentil, the CSOs should come. We need that third force because 32 million people, we can’t leave this election to John Mahama,” he said.
Background
Alan Kyerematen, a founding member of the NPP and former minister of Trade and Industry, resigned from the party after accusing leadership of scheming the presidential primary in favour of Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
This was occasioned at the super delegates’ conference that was held in August 26 to prune the 10 aspirants to 5. After coming third in the poll, Mr. Kyerematen pulled out of the November 4 final contest and subsequently resigned from the party to form the Movement for Change to contest the 2024 elections as an independent candidate.
The decision led to four stalwarts of the party forfeiting their membership for publicly declaring their support for Mr. Kyerematen as opposed to the party’s constitution.
The leadership, in a statement signed by General Secretary Justin Koduah Frimpong, announced that the four members: Yaw Buaben Asamoa, a former MP and Director of Communications; Boniface Abubakar Saddique, also a former MP; Nana Ohene Ntow, a former General Secretary and Hopeson Yaovi Adorye, a former member of the communications team, were no longer part of the party.
The decision, is what many has described as unnecessary since it has the potential of drifting their support base to lose people who could have voted for the NPP’s parliamentary candidates even if not for the flag bearer.
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