Secretary
of
the
NPP,
Justin
Frimpong
Kodua
was
in
Parliament
on
Friday
to
observe
proceedings
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Good
evening,
ladies
and
gentlemen
of
the
Press
The
National
Council
of
the
NPP,
which
is
the
second
highest
decision-making
body
of
the
party
met
today,
July
4,
2024,
to
consider
the
nomination
of
Hon.
Dr.
Matthew
Opoku
Prempeh
by
H.E.
Dr.
Mahamudu
Bawumia,
the
party’s
Presidential
Candidate,
as
his
Running
Mate
for
the
2024
general
elections.
The
meeting,
which
ended
a
few
minutes
ago,
did
in
fact,
consider
the
said
nomination
which
forms
part
of
the
constitutionally
mandated
processes
for
selecting
the
party’s
Running
Mate
as
per
Article
13(3)(1)
of
the
NPP
Constitution.
For
the
avoidance
of
doubt,
the
Article
13(3)(1)
of
the
Constitution
provides
as
follows:
“The
Party’s
Presidential
Candidate
shall,
in
consultation
with
the
National
Council,
nominate
the
Vice-Presidential
Candidate”.
I
am
happy
to
report
that
after
the
necessary
consideration,
the
National
Council
of
the
party
UNANIMOUSLY
ENDORSED
the
Presidential
Candidate’s
nomination
of
Hon.
Dr.
Matthew
Opoku
Prempeh,
Member
of
Parliament
for
Manhyia
South
and
Energy
Minister,
as
his
Vice-Presidential
Candidate
pursuant
to
Article
13(3)
of
the
Party
Constitution.
This
significant
milestone
marks
the
completion
of
the
presidential
ticket
of
the
NPP
for
the
2024
general
elections,
and
therefore,
sets
the
stage
for
the
party
to
fully
engage
the
Ghanaian
electorates
comprehensively
with
our
message
of
transformation.
I
wish
to,
at
this
juncture,
say
something
little
about
our
vice-presidential
candidate,
focusing
primarily
on
what
he
brings
to
the
NPP
presidential
ticket
since
he
is
not
a
stranger
to
the
body
politics
of
our
country.
Hon.
Dr.
Matthew
Opoku
Prempeh
is
a
56-year
old
medical
doctor,
a
devoted
Christian
and
a
consummate
politician.
He
is
a
product
of
Prempeh
College
and
the
Kwame
Nkrumah
University
of
Science
and
Technology,
both
in
Kumasi,
as
well
as
the
Erasmus
University
in
The
Netherlands.
It
was
at
KNUST
that
he
made
his
first
appearance
as
a
leader,
after
he
won
the
position
as
the
local
National
Union
of
Ghana
Students
(NUGS)
President,
a
position
he
held
from
1991
to
1992.
After
working
with
the
National
Health
Service
in
the
United
Kingdom
for
some
time,
he
returned
to
Ghana
in
2005
to
pursue
a
career
in
business
and
more
importantly
in
politics.
He
successfully
became
the
Member
of
Parliament
for
Manhyia
in
2009.
Ahead
of
the
2012
elections,
the
constituency
was
divided
into
two,
and
in
those
elections,
he
won
the
newly-created
Manhyia
South
Constituency,
which
he
retained
in
2016
and
2020.
Owing
to
his
passion
for
education,
President
Nana
Addo
Dankwa
Akufo-Addo
appointed
him
as
Minister
of
Education
during
his
first
term.
As
Education
Minister,
Napo,
as
he
is
affectionately
called,
spearheaded
the
implementation
of
the
famous
Free
Senior
High
School
policy,
Under
Dr.
Prempeh,
the
successful
implementation
of
the
government’s
flagship
Free
Senior
High
School
(FSHS)
policy
saw
the
country’s
SHS
population
leap
from
800,000
in
2016
to
1.2
million
by
January
2021.
It
is
instructive
to
note
that
Napo
ensured
that
this
policy
was
rolled
out
within
the
first
year
of
the
Akufo-Addo
government
when
he
was
appointed
as
Education
Minister.
He
didn’t
ask
for
honeymoon.
I
repeat,
he
didn’t
ask
for
honeymoon.
It
will
be
recalled
that
at
the
time
he
announced
that
he
was
going
ahead
to
implement
the
policy,
many
people,
including
some
from
civil
society
organizations
(CSOs)
and
some
senior
members
of
the
government
thought
it
was
too
early.
But,
typical
of
Napo,
would
have
none
of
that.
He
showed
boldness
and
decisiveness
when
it
mattered
most,
and
went
on
with
the
policy,
which
is
by
far,
the
biggest
social
intervention
in
the
nation’s
education
sector
since
Independence.
Today,
posterity
has
vindicated
him.
Ghana
certainly
needs
leaders
who
are
bold
and
decisive,
because
that
is
the
only
way
we
can
achieve
results.
It
is
also
worthy
to
note
that
throughout
his
4-year
tenure
as
Minister
for
Education,
there
was
significant
industrial
harmony
and
stability
in
the
education
front.
He
ensured
that
the
concerns
of
teachers
and
other
players
in
the
education
sector
were
adequately
attended
to.
This
therefore
confirms
that
Dr.
Matthew
Opoku
Prempeh
has
an
incredible
interpersonal
and
negotiation
skills.
He
is
arguably
the
only
Minister
of
Education
in
this
Fourth
Republic
to
have
achieved
this
feat.
Having
delivered
at
the
Ministry
for
Education,
the
President
appointed
him
during
his
second
term
to
head
the
Ministry
of
Energy,
where
he
again,
demonstrated
his
stellar
leadership
qualities.
He
worked
very
hard
to
KEEP
THE
LIGHTS
ON,
even
during
the
times
of
unprecedented
global
economic
crisis
when
every
sector
of
the
economy
was
virtually
in
“darkness”,
gasping
for
breath.
We
however
concede
that
in
the
last
couple
of
weeks
and
months,
some
parts
of
the
country
did
face
some
power
challenges.
But,
the
good
news
is
that,
unlike
in
the
past
particularly
under
H.E
John
Dramani
Mahama,
where
we
slept
in
darkness
for
over
four(4)
years,
Dr.
Prempeh
ensured
that
the
recent
power
challenges
we
experienced
did
not
last
beyond
three
(3)
months.
He
is
indeed
results-oriented,
and
there
is
absolutely
no
debate
about
that.
In
recognition
of
his
leadership
skills,
his
contribution
towards
education
in
Ghana,
particularly
in
respect
of
his
role
in
the
implementation
of
the
government’s
flagship
Free
SHS
programme
and
other
transformational
policies
in
education,
Dr.
Prempeh
has
been
honoured
by
the
University
of
Education
Winneba,
the
University
of
Cape
Coast
and
the
University
of
Professional
Studies,
Accra
with
the
conferment
on
him
with
honourary
doctorate
degrees.
In
July
2021,
he
was
invited
to
join
the
Mission
4.7
High-Level
Advisory
Group,
a
joint
initiative
of
UNESCO,
the
Sustainable
Development
Solutions
Network,
the
Ban
Ki-Moon
Center
for
Global
Citizens
and
the
Center
for
Sustainable
Development
(CSD)
at
Columbia
University.
In
conclusion,
ladies
and
gentlemen,
if
you
were
to
ask
me
what
Dr.
Matthew
Prempeh
brings
to
the
NPP
presidential
ticket,
I
will
tell
you
he
brings
decades
of
political
astuteness,
trustworthy
leadership,
confidence,
decisiveness,
grassroots
mobilization,
charisma,
patriotism
and
demonstrable
incorruptibility.
Again,
Dr.
Matthew
Opoku
Prempeh
shares
Dr.
Bawumia’s
vision
of
bold
solutions
for
our
country
that
are
responsive
to
the
needs,
opportunities
and
challenges
of
the
21st
century.
In
this
respect,
he
complements
our
flagbearer
in
many
significant
ways
and
the
two
enjoy
a
warm,
personal
relationship
anchored
on
deep
mutual
respect.
More
importantly,
Dr.
Matthew
Opoku
Prempeh
has
a
great
working
relationship
with
our
Presidential
Candidate,
H.E
Alhaji
Dr.
Alhaji
Mahamudu
Bawumia.
The
synergy
between
these
two
great
leaders
on
our
presidential
ticket,
coupled
with
their
proven
track-record
and
transformational
campaign
message
would
help
the
New
Patriotic
Party
to
secure
a
resounding
third
consecutive
electoral
victory
on
the
7th
of
December
2024,
by
the
grace
of
Almighty
ALLAH.