Member of Parliament (MP) for Offinso North, Augustine Collins Ntim, has in a bizarre pronouncement, asserted that NPP flagbearer, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, does not appeal to the Christian community.
According to him, it is a fact that Christians will not vote for Dr Bawumia, because he is a Muslim.
Ntim, a former Deputy Minister of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development in the Akufo-Addo government, and a former Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Offinso in the Kufuor government, made this shocking statement when he addressed a meeting of constituency secretaries of the NPP in the Ashanti Region at Asokwa in Kumasi on Sunday, May 26.
Addressing Bawumia’s shortfall
Ntim said to make up for Dr Bawumia’s shortfall, the flagbearer needs to choose a strong Christian as his running mate to attract Christian votes.
On that score, he suggested that Irene Naa Torshie Addo, the administrator of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) is the best fit for the running mate position.
Desperation
Ntim’s pronouncement has been widely condemned by many people within the NPP in the Ashanti Region, the party’s stronghold.
They said everybody is aware that the MP has been a stooge of the DACF administrator, but to suggest that Dr Bawumia is not popular within the Christian community is untenable.
“ It shows how desperate Naa Torshie is in this running mate issue. Naa Torshie’s bid is the most bizarre. She is too desperate and I am afraid reckless with her spending. It will all come back to hurt us very soon,” a disappointed party official in the Ashanti Region remarked.
His Excellency the President should check her
Some party members in the region appealed to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to check the activities of the DACF administrator.
One of the furious secretaries dismissed the assertions of the MP saying “ Where is even the evidence that Irene Naa Torshie Addo is an avid Christian? Governance is about competence and not religious persuasions.”
