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Leading member bemoans numerous NPP
presidential aspirants
Koforidua, Jan. 7, GNA- Mr J.H. Mensah, a leading member of
New Patriotic Party (NPP) and a Member of Parliament, on
Saturday questioned the seriousness of some of his party
members who were clamouring for the party's presidential
slot for the 2008 general election, saying that the demand
for the presidency was not "a beauty contest" anybody could
jump at.
"This is not a beauty contest", Mr Mensah declared, adding
that anybody aspiring to be the NPP flag bearer should have
won the confidence of a majority of not just party members
but also the general public, as well as being capable of
"running difficult, complex and demanding projects."
Speaking on probably the most urgent concern for the NPP, Mr
Mensah said not only had the unprecedented number of
presidential aspirants given the party a bad image, but that
their attitude had also fuel the perception that the
flagbearership was something anybody could aspire to.
Rather, the presidency should only be a preserve for honest,
hardworking achievers and "not the chaos of twenty
individual captains", he added.
Mr Mensah was addressing faithful of the NPP attending the
party's annual delegates conference currently underway at
the EREDCE Hotel at Koforidua in the Eastern Region.
According to Mr Mensah, the issue of presidential aspirants
of the party "has threatened to get out of hand" and the
party's image has suffered damage.
He questioned: "What kind of a united team can the NPP
present to the country when not only the eleven players on
the field but also all the reserves on the benches want to
be captain."
While accepting that every member of the NPP could and was
entitled to present himself as a candidate, he explained
that the provision could not be misconstrued to mean,
"Everybody should present himself."
"Ghana needs a disciplined team under outstanding leadership
to give us top-grade governance, not the chaos of twenty
individual captains", he pointed out.
Mr. Mensah reminded party members of the need to deliver on
the mandate delivered to the NPP in 2000 and 2004 so that
the people could offer them another mandate in 2008.
He affirmed that the leadership of the party would not
"gamble or guess with the choice of their leader" because
"quality tells."
"We have all worked together, and we know each other's
contributions and we cannot gamble with the choice of a
leader," Mr Mensah declared.
In his address, the General Secretary of the Party, Nana
Ohene-Ntow, announced that the party would be making
appointments to the positions of Director of Communications
and Press Secretaries to spearhead its communications
strategy, which he described as the weakest link in the
party's corporate strategy.
He said the party had also launched a new website with the
domain:
www.nppnational.org to counteract propaganda and false
information being labeled against it by its opponents.
Nana Ntow said as part of moves to motivate women, the
secretariat had initiated a women's cooperative NGO and the
move would enable it to provide both skills training and
credit to the women.
He said the party was also gearing its moves to win more
votes in the Zongo communities through the revival of the
Nasara Club, which is an amalgamation of Muslim clubs within
the NPP.
The National Chairman of the party, Mr Peter Mac-Manu called
on members who were testing the waters to see if they could
present themselves as presidential aspirants to be civil and
decent in their utterances and their activities.
He said this year, the party would invite nominations for
parliamentary candidates for constituencies without sitting
MPs and explained that the situation was to allow for early
marketing and campaigning of the candidates.
Mr Mac-Manu explained that in order not to undermine sitting
MPs, the party would come out with a programme in 2008 on
how candidates in those constituencies would be nominated to
represent the party.
He said the party believed in the rule of law and therefore
rejected the unconventional methods that some members were
trying to adopt to remove duly elected officials from office
by closing down party offices and hurriedly arranging
meetings to vote in new executives.
Mr Mac-Manu said God willing, "the NPP shall continue to
dominate the political landscape of the country for many
years to come" and urged the members to help to maintain its
position as one of the best-organized and most attractive
political parties in Africa.
GNA
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