NPP plans incident-free, fair national delegates’ conference

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has geared itself towards organising an incident-free and fair national delegates’ conference in Koforidua in the Eastern Region this weekend.

In line with that all the eight committees formed to ensure the fluid organisation of the conference are almost ready or putting their final acts together.

“The party, having put in place all the relevant arrangements and preparations, is confident that the 2018 National Delegates’ Conference shall be a record remarkable success,” the acting General Secretary of the party, Mr John Boadu, told the Daily Graphic  after addressing a press conference at the party’s headquarters in Accra yesterday to announce details and modalities for the upcoming national delegates’ conference.

Conference Theme

Six thousand delegates are expected at the three-day conference which is scheduled for July 6-8, 2018.

The theme chosen is “Building a Stronger Party; Delivering Prosperity to Ghanaians.” The first day, Friday, July 6, 2018, will be for Muslim Jummah prayers at the Koforidua Central Mosque as well as some social events that will take place in the evening. On Saturday, July 7, 2018 is for the main conference which will be held at the school park of the Koforidua Technical University.

On the conference activities, delegates will deliberate and make appropriate resolutions on the national chairman’s statement, the general secretary’s report, the national treasurer’s statement of accounts and other matters.

Speeches/security

According to Mr Boadu, the main conference would be in two parts, where the first part would be devoted to speeches from the leader of the parliamentary group, former President John Agyekum Kufuor and President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, after which the National Elections Committee would conduct the elections under the supervision of the Electoral Commission.

The party will subsequently hold a thanksgiving service at the Jesus Temple of the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC) in Koforidua on Sunday.
Mr Boadu said elaborate security measures had been put in place to ensure that delegates went about their duties at the conference venue in an orderly and peaceful manner.

“We have put elaborate measures in place to ensure that we come out of the elections stronger, more united and poised to achieve more as a party,” he assured.

Far advanced plans

As a party in government, Mr Boadu pointed out, it was incumbent on delegates to carry themselves in an orderly fashion that would clearly show to the rest of the world that the NPP was a disciplined and democratic party.

He has, therefore, called on the 6,000 delegates expected at the conference to abide by the rules of engagement to enable the party to come out of the delegates’ conference with chest out.

“We appeal to stakeholders, particularly the candidates for the respective national positions and their teeming supporters, to respect the rules of engagement and conduct this exercise with the necessary finesse and maturity so that we will, once again, have an incident-free conference,” he appealed.

So far 41 aspirants have been vetted and certified to contest for various national positions of the party for which the chairmanship slot is the keenest with three stalwarts of the party in contention.

They are acting national chairman who is seeking to become a substantive, Mr Freddy Blay, Dr Richard Amoako Baah and Mr Stephen Ayesu Ntim all leading members.

Mr Boadu reminded delegates that for the avoidance of doubt, there had not been any departure from the traditional ways the party elected its vice chairpersons.

He explained that the election of the vice chairpersons shall indeed be held in conformity with Article 10 (F) (6) (1) of the party’s constitution, which provides that: “There shall be three (3) National Vice Chairpersons ranked first, second and third according to the number of votes received at the election at the National Annual Delegates’ Conference.”

Theme of conference

Throwing more light on the conference, Mr Boadu said the choice of the theme, was based on the fact that the party recognised the need to build and strengthen its structures to become more formidable in order to sustain power to deliver prosperity to Ghanaians.

The NPP, he noted, remained the only party in Ghana that had been at the forefront of almost every progressive development in Ghana and for that matter, in the delivery of prosperity to the good people of the country.

The party, he claimed, was credited with the introduction of almost all the monumental economic and social interventions in the country, citing examples such as the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), capitation grant, metro mass transport, livelihood empowerment against poverty, free maternal care among several others stressing also that the party had also led the way in the areas of good governance and the consolidation of the country’s democracy.

For that reason, he noted, it was in the supreme interest of Ghana and the NPP for that matter, that the party remained stronger and formidable in order to remain in government for the country to progress and witness sustainable growth and development.

Mr Boadu also observed that in the one-and-a-half-year rule of the President Akufo-Addo led NPP administration, most of the party’s electoral promises were either being fulfilled or had been fulfilled.

“You can imagine what the narrative will be by the time we finish our first term. This you can only find in the NPP, hence the need for the party to remain stronger and stronger for the good of all,” he added.