I can work with everybody : Akufo-Addo declares, unveils campaign team
The flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has stated that he can work with everybody in the party who shares its vision to recapture power during the 2016 general election.
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“I reject the refrain that there are people in the party that I cannot work with. I do not expect that anything I say will go unchallenged since as a politician and lawyer, I thrive on healthy and vigorous debate to arrive at a consensus”.
He was speaking at the 15th extraordinary annual delegates conference of the party held at the Coronation Park in Sunyani last Saturday.
The conference which was organised as part of the party’s mandate attracted big wigs of the party such as former President John Agyekum Kufuor, the 2016 running mate of the flag bearer, Dr Mahamudu Bawumiah, the acting National Chairman, Mr Freddie Blay, and the acting General Secretary and National Organiser, Mr John Boadu.
Others included Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, a former Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Alan Kyerematen, a former Minister of Trade, Industry and President’s Special Initiatives (PSI), Mr Asamoah Boateng, a former Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mr I. C. Quaye, a former Greater Accra Regional Minister, Dr Kwame Addo Kufuor, a former Minister of Defence.
Also in attendance were some of members of the Council of Elders of the party, including Mr C.K. Tedam and Madam Ama Busia.
The conference, attended by about 6,000 delegates and supporters of the party, was held on the theme “Arise for Change 2016”.
The seats at the park were filled to capacity, compelling a lot of the supporters to stand on their feet throughout the conference which lasted for about four-and-a-half hours.
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Campaign team
Nana Akufo-Addo used the occasion to unveil the party’s 2016 election campaign team led by a former National Chairman, Mr Peter Mac Manu, with a former General Secretary and member of Parliament (MP) for Okere, Mr Dan Botwe, as the campaign strategist.
Mr Boakye Agyarko is the campaign team’s policy adviser, while Mr Ken Ofori Atta and Mr Edward Boateng are directors of Fundraising and Administration and Logistics respectively.
The acting General Secretary and National Organiser, Mr John Boadu, is the Director of Operations and will be assisted by National Youth Organiser, Mr Sammy Awuku, National Women’s Organiser, Ms Otiko Djaba, and National Nasara Co-ordinator, Mr Kamal-Deen Abdulai.
Conspicously absent at the conference were the three top executives who have been suspended: National Chairman, Mr Paul Afoko, Second Vice Chairman, Mr Sammy Crabbe, and General Secretary, Mr Kwabena Agyepong.
Tortuous year
Acknowledging cheers from the teeming crowd who blew vuvuzela intermittently, Nana Akufo-Addo conceded that this year had been a tortuous one for the party.
“We have ended this year with three of our national officers being suspended. It has been a traumatic experience for me. I am aware of the heartache that our supporters have gone through,” he observed.
He said it was frustrating that efforts to resolve the impasse had not yielded the desired results.
“I am saddened by the suspensions,” the flag bearer stated, adding, however, that “the rule of law is the hallmark of the NPP. Nobody including me is above the law in the party.”
Tradition
Nana Akufo-Addo said the NPP tradition had experienced detentions, deaths and military takeovers, and yet it had emerged as the most formidable political party in the country.
The eight years of the NPP government, led by former President J. A Kufuor, according to him, had provided the country with the best government under the Fourth Republic.
Nana Akufo-Addo stated that the NPP would, therefore, not throw away its legacy, saying that the time had come for the party to turn things around in order to right the wrong that had been committed by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as a result of its misrule.
Campaign strategy
He said the party’s campaign towards the 2016 general election would be decentralised to give the polling stations and the constituencies enough impetus to be at the forefront.
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“It is time to set out to work. The campaign is the responsibility of us as NPP members and sympathisers,” he stated.
He urged all Ghanaians, especially those who had been impoverished through the broken promises by the NDC to join the campaign to “uproot John Mahama’s incompetent government”.
Nana Akufo-Addo accused the NDC of whipping up ethnic sentiments among Ghanaians in its bid to stay in power after seven years of maladministration, thereby pushing the clock of progress backwards.
He said the NPP had the talent and expertise to turn the country’s fortunes around, explaining that he would emulate former President Kufuor by reversing the negative economic trends the country was currently experiencing.
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According to him, the NDC had no campaign message since they had used every infrastructure they had built to enrich themselves and impoverish the ordinary Ghanaian.
Ghana deserves better
Nana Akufo-Addo added that Ghana deserved better, hence the anxiety of Ghanaians for a change in government.
He said the NPP had a good story to tell, adding that he was ready to lead the crusade for change and bring the country back to the path of progress.
“Today, we are together with a renewed hope. Let’s join hands for change. Arise for change, the battle is still the Lord’s,” he added.
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Acting chairman
For his part, the acting National Chairman of the party, Mr Freddie Blay, called for the proper management of the current internal wrangling in the party.
He stated that the party was governed by the rule of law and was, therefore, ready to welcome people who shared in its aspirations.
He described the death of the former Upper East Regional Chairman of the party, Alhaji Adams Mahama as a result of acid bath as a tragedy.
He said it was up to the members of the party to ensure that Alhaji Mahama did not die in vain, adding that “we shall not be satisfied with anything less than the arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators.”
He also appealed to the police to make sure that the killers of Abubakar Sadiq, another NPP supporter in the Ashanti Region, were arrested and brought to book.
Party headquarters
Mr Blay announced that some resourceful members of the party had offered to assist it to begin the construction of a new national headquarters next year.
“We will pursue that while we also try to make the necessary funds available for the 2016 election campaign,” he stated.
Losing candidates
Mr Blay appealed to candidates who lost in the party’s parliamentary primaries to let bygones be bygones and rather use their energies and resources to assist the winning candidates to win their seats.
He also asked the parliamentary candidates to work hard in order to widen the gap between their votes and that of their opponents in other parties during the 2016 general election.
Writer’s email: nanadu63@gmail.com/emmanuel.gyamerah@graphic.com.gh
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