A stalwart of the National Democratic Congress, Kofi Totobi Quakyi, has described the withdrawal of Dr. Kwabena Duffuor from the flagbearer race as unfortunate.
The former Minister for Information under the erstwhile Jerry John Rawlings administration called on the rank and file of the party to unite and work hard for victory ahead of the 2024 general elections.
Mr Totobi Quakyi who was speaking at the Gyandu Park in Sekondi in the Western Region said he would have wished Dr. Duffuor had not withdrawn from the race.
He added that despite the controversies that heralded the primaries, it is important for the party members to stick together to ensure that the party defeats the NPP in the 2024 elections.
“We would have wished that the candidate who withdrew would have stayed on to fight in the interest of democracy, but it is his personal decision, but that personal decision should not be an affront to the collective or the masses of our supporters.”
Former Finance Minister Dr. Kwabena Duffuor on Friday pulled out of the NDC flagbearership race.
Addressing a press conference Friday evening, Dr. Duffuor accused the leadership of the party of breaching the agreement and assurance given to the three presidential aspirants to resolve the issues raised about the register before Saturday’s polls.
“At the meeting chaired by the former Speaker of Parliament, Rt Hon. Edward Doe Adjaho, all stakeholders at the meeting agreed that the Party Chairman, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah would immediately set up a technical team comprising the technical representatives from the 3 presidential aspirants and the party’s election committee to determine how soon the irregularities with the voters register could be resolved in readiness for the Presidential primaries.”
Dr. Duffuor added that “My concerns that the party is not ready to conduct a free and fair election is evident for all to see. Taking part in such would be akin to knowingly drinking from a poisoned calabash.
“After consulting with my support base nationwide, I have been left with no choice but to withdraw from the Presidential election as I cannot contest in an election which is blatantly fraught with irregularities regardless of all my efforts to draw attention to same.”
