Nine political groups have allied to contest the 2024 presidential election to break the dominant duopoly in Ghana politics from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The alliance, spearheaded by the Movement for Change, a political movement founded by Mr Alan Kyerematen, a former Minister of Trade and Industry and a leading member of the NPP, is under the umbrella name “Alliance for Revolutionary Change”.
It includes the National Interest Movement led by Dr Michael Abu Sakara Foster, Ghana First Coalition led by Dr Samuel Noi Mensah; Union Government, founded by Akwasi Addai Odike; Ghana National Party, founded by Mr Sam Ofori Ampofo.
The rest are the Ghana Green Party, founded by Reverend Stephen Ayensu; Third Force Movement, founded by Mrs Augustina Cudjoe; and Non- Aligned Voters Movement, founded by Mr Kwofie Beni Bengor and Mr Henry Asante, Crusaders Against Corruption Ghana, former National Second Vice Chairman of the People’s National Convention (PNC).
The alliance is expected to aggressively mobilise Ghanaians from across the country, particularly the youth and women, irrespective of their religious, political, and ethnic affiliations, to elect a first independent candidate under the 4th Republic.
Speaking at the launch of the alliance yesterday in Accra, Mr Kyerematen said the alliance, when voted into government, would focus on addressing the increasing poverty rate and reset the country on a new path to prosperity.
He said for the alliance to realise this objective, they would advocate for fundamental constitutional reforms, including, but not limited to reforms in governance, public sector accountability, management of our natural resources, as well as mindset and attitudinal change in Ghana
Mr Kyerematen, who thanked the leadership of the alliance for the trust and confidence reposed in him to lead them as presidential candidate, said that after 67 years of independence, Ghana was still “crawling to provide quality healthcare, education, transportation, and roads for the citizenry”.
He said there was the need for Ghana to elect a leader who would fight corruption, and not a leader who would provide a “haven for corrupt officials”. He said in this regard, the Alliance had adopted the Movement for Change transformation agenda.
The Founder of the National Interest Movement, Dr Michael Abu Sakara Foster, said the alliance would combine their resources and logistics to mobilise Ghanaians to vote for the alliance in the upcoming presidential elections.
He said this had become necessary due to the duopoly of the two main political parties; the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), which had contributed little to the Ghanaian economy.
He said the alliance was going to battle with these two political parties to rescue Ghanaians from the increasing hardship faced in the country due to the increasing inflation, unemployment, and among others.
The Founder of the Union Government, Mr Odike, was optimistic that the alliance would surely achieve its objective of winning the upcoming elections, stressing that Ghanaians were fed up with the political duopoly witnessed in the country.
He said the alliance would become the third force since Ghanaians themselves were demanding for a third force movement to bring the development that Ghanaians have been calling for.
BY BERNARD BENGHAN