Apostle Kofi Nkansah- Sarkodie, the Head Pastor of the Open Arms Ministry, has blamed the Council of Elders of the NPP for the large number of contestants aspiring to become flagbearer of the party.

He said when the leadership of the party allowed 17 aspirants in 2007, it became a laughing stock and that should have guided the party to prevent as many as 10 aspirants contesting for the position this year.

According there no precedence has been placed on the number of aspirants to the NPP flagbearer position.

Addressing a press conference at the headquarters of the church  at North Suntreso in Kumasi recently, Saint Sark as he is popularly called said it is wrong for the Council of Elders to have proposed for a Super Delegates Conference.

Saint Sark acknowledged that the number of the aspirants is large but observed that he expected the contestants themselves to bow out even before the race gets to a super delegates level.

He said he was surprised that the leadership of the party did not earlier talk to some of those with the ambition long before it got to this point to avoid further  ridiculing of the party.

He narrowed down on the ten contestants and observed that he expected only three of the aspirants namely Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia and Ken Ohene Agyapong would be breasting the tape but added that the dynamics can change even with the three aspirants.

Commenting on the issue of branded pickups purported to have been procured by   the Vice President for his campaign, Saint Sark emphasized that whether the trucks were 6 or 1,500 Dr. Bawumia should have taken cognisance of his own background as coming from that part of Ghana where the economic and social conditions were not favourable to his folks and therefore should rather not go for those vehicles.

The Church leader explained that the unit price of a pickup was able to provide two or three boreholes for deprived communities in the Northern Ghana as a demonstration of love, compassion and everything that goes with leadership qualities.

By Kow Richardson 

Kumasi