The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has dismissed suggestions that it is threatened by the formation of the newly rebranded United Party (UP Plus), led by former Trade Minister Alan Kyerematen, insisting it is neither concerned nor attempting to reconcile with defectors.
Speaking on The Big Issue on Channel One TV on Saturday, October 18, NPP’s Director of Communications, Richard Ahiagbah, firmly stated that the ruling party has no reason to be alarmed by UP Plus or its centrist agenda.
“I don’t think there is anything for the NPP to be worried about,” Ahiagbah said. “They say they have formed a centrist party — the values that define the UP tradition are not what they are claiming, so technically it is just a name.”
He further clarified that the NPP has not held any formal discussions in response to UP Plus’s launch, and any talk of outreach or reconciliation efforts is not a party-sanctioned initiative.
“In fact, the NPP hasn’t sat to arrive at a decision to say we are calling them or chasing them here and there. If anybody said that, it is their personal opinion,” Ahiagbah stressed.
His comments follow the official unveiling of UP Plus on October 16, a political movement that evolved from the Movement for Change and has now been registered with the Electoral Commission as a political party. The group, fronted by Kyerematen and other former NPP stalwarts, positions itself as a centrist alternative to both the NPP and NDC.
In a counter-response during the UP Plus launch, the party’s National Chairman, Abubakar Saddique Boniface, rejected any notion of returning to the NPP, referencing an earlier “amnesty” offer extended by the ruling party to former members.
“We were sacked from the NPP, but today they want to grant us amnesty? What crime did our leader commit? What crime did I commit for you to sack me? And now you are telling me you are giving me amnesty? No way,” Boniface stated.
He likened the split to an irreversible divorce, symbolically closing the door on any potential reunification.
“In Islam, when you divorce a woman three times, she’s no longer your wife until thy kingdom come.”
Alan Kyerematen, who left the NPP in 2023 over internal grievances and what he described as unfair treatment, has since repositioned himself as the face of a “national movement” focused on institutional reforms, economic recovery, and restoring public confidence in governance.
UP Plus General Secretary Yaw Buaben Asamoa, himself a former NPP MP, added that their movement is “not just another third force” but a genuine platform for change.
Despite the UP Plus leadership’s sharp rebuke and bold ambitions, the NPP maintains that it is moving forward on its own terms.
Source:Lovinghananews.com
