Spio-Garbrah outlines vision to empower NDC members

A flag bearer aspirant of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, has outlined seven pillars that he will implement as as a flag bearer and a President to support and empower NDC members.

He told Graphic Online that the seven pillars, which he described as his vision for the NDC, were to strengthen party members financially, physically, psychologically and socially.

The seven pillars are strengthening of party structures, creation of welfare committees, spending most time at NDC headquarters, human capacity building programme, strengthening of the women's wing, creation of a credit union for members and establishment of a Nkrumah/Rawlings ideology for the NDC.

Party structures

Dr Spio-Garbrah, who is a former Minister of Trade and Industry, said the NDC used classrooms and other facilities as offices in most of the constituencies, and indicated that the offices lacked equipment for operations.

In his bid to strengthen the structures of the party, he said he would engage business people in the various constituencies to support the establishment offices for the party.

He said the offices would be equipped with efficient equipment to facilitate the execution of party work.

On the welfare committee, Dr Spio-Garbrah said many NDC members faced health and other challenges but they did not get the needed support from the party.

Therefore, he said, a welfare committee would be constituted and indicated that it would come up with different packages to assist members who faced health and other challenges at the national, regional and constituency levels.

"We will take voluntary contribution to support NDC members who find themselves in difficulty", he said.

Human capacity building

Dr Spio-Garbrah said he would arrange with local and foreign educational institutions to offer training for qualified party members.

Besides, he said, he would speak with experienced entrepreneurs, lawyers, doctors, among others, to provide mentorship to young professionals in the party.

Dr Spio-Garbrah said the proposed creation of a credit union was to provide an opportunity for members to have an account with the party.

The idea, he said, would make all NDC members shareholders who would be entitled to a profit.

Dr Spio-Garbrah said he would embark on an aggressive campaign to reinvigorate the women's wing of the NDC.

He said since women constituted more than 50 per cent of the population, the party needed to make them more active and visible in party activities.

Dr Spio-Garbrah said when he got the nod to be the flag bearer of NDC and again elected as a President, he would have more engagements with party members.

He said he would spend a day in a week at the NDC headquarters to attend to the concerns of members.

Nkrumah/Rawlings ideology

Dr Spio-Garbrah said the NDC was only known to be a social democratic party but it did not have any strong ideology.

He said many of NDC members were from the Nkrumah tradition.

Therefore, Dr Spio-Garbrah said he would push for the adoption of a Nkrumah/Rawlings ideology that would incorporate the best of the works of Ghana's First President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, and NDC founder, Mr Jerry John Rawlings.

He said the party would discuss the details of the ideology and come to an agreement on it.

Other aspirants for the NDC flag-bearer contest for the 2020 election are former President John Dramani Mahama; Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Bagbin; the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Professional Studies (UPSA), Professor Joshua Alabi, and the former Chief Executive Officer of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Mr Sylvester Mensah.