Former Member of Parliament (MP) for the Kwadaso Constituency, and staunch member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Josephine Hilda Addo has stated that it is selfish for one to insist the party must have a succession plan.
Although she agrees this call made by the majority leader of parliament, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu is his personal opinion, she describes it as selfish and wrong.
According to her, the party has a constitution that spells out how and who can lead the party as a flagbearer and that must be respected by all.
Speaking in an interview on the Epa Hoa Daben political talk show hosted by Don Kwabena Prah on Happy 98.9 FM, Hilda said, “Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu has expressed his view on the NPP having a succession plan and that is not right. Congress will determine who leads the party and not a succession plan determined by a few”.
She insisted that the Majority leader has no power to dictate to the party and “his opinion is not law”.
On her authority anyone who wants to contest the party’s flagbearership position should be given the opportunity to do so. “If he thinks the grassroots approve of someone to lead the party, then the individual should be made to contest the position and the results will definitely prove that”, she added.
Reiterating the fact that she disagrees with the majority leader, she advised all party faithfuls to focus on the well-being of the party and try not to take power away from the grassroots.
“I don’t agree with Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu’s assertion on a succession plan. If we do that, then, we are taking away power from the grassroots. We need to give power to the grassroots and if they vote and agree on one person, that is fine and if they don’t, we need to do the right thing and move on. We should put behind selfish reasoning and that will do the party good”, she said.