Use NPP congress to prepare for Victory 2016 - Afoko
The National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party(NPP), Mr Paul Awentami Afoko, has exhorted party members to regard Saturday’s presidential primary as a significant step in preparations towards a decisive electoral victory in 2016.
Advertisement
He has, therefore, enjoined the three presidential aspirants and their supporters, as well as party delegates, to live in peace with one another as they go through the exercise of electing a flag bearer for the party.
“We must go into the 2016 Election very united and purposeful. We must all start thinking about how we can deliver victory in 2016.
“That is why, as members of the NPP, we owe it a duty to ourselves and to Ghanaians to conduct ourselves in a manner to ensure that we do not bring the name of the party into disrepute in this exercise,” he advised members of the party.
The NPP, on Saturday, will elect its presidential candidate for the 2016 elections. The election will be conducted in 276 polling stations across the country.
Over 140,000 delegates are expected to participate in the process, which has Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the presidential candidate of the party for 2008 and 2012 general election; Mr John Kwadwo Alan Kyerematen, a two-time presidential aspirant, and Mr Francis Addai-Nimoh, the Member of Parliament for Asante Mampong, who is in the race for the first time as the contestants.
Throwing more light on preparations towards the presidential primary, Mr Afoko said, “I am happy to report that everything is set for the election in the 276 designated polling stations in the constituencies across the country, as well as at the party headquarters at Asylum Down in Accra.
He, however, urged all supporters to be tolerant of one another’s opinions, respect each other as well as remain disciplined in their approach to issues as the exercise was rolled out.
Ghana’s future
The national chairman said Ghanaians were boxed in a narrow space with no hope, as the future had become bleak.
He said the state of hopelessness in the country was largely due to the poor management of the resources of the country.
The NPP, according to Mr Afoko, was the source of hope for the country’s men and women and it,therefore, ought not to disappoint Ghanaians.
He reminded the teeming supporters that the reason for joining a political party was to help it win political power to develop the country and improve the living standards of the people.
Mr Afoko urged the winner of Saturday’s polls to be magnanimous and genuinely reach out to the losers and their supporters.
Equally, he called on the unsuccessful candidates and their supporters to fully and unconditionally lend their support to the winner.
He stressed that as members of the NPP, they were in the struggle together for the redemption of Ghanaians and that they should genuinely work together as a team.
In line with Saturday’s expanded national delegates congress, the party has issued instructions for the conduct of the election, which was read at the press conference by the General Secretary, Mr Kwabena Agyepong,
The NPP expanded the size of its electoral college from 2,300 to 140,000 delegates in August 2009.
Mr Agyepong reminded delegates, candidates and members of the party that the election was being conducted by the Electoral Commission and as such Presiding Officers of the EC would be in total control of the 276 polling stations.
Mr Agyepong warned that no party official should give directives to presiding officers, as well as the delegates, as to what they should do during elections.
He, however, stated that a candidate might appoint two polling agents to be at every polling station nationwide and aspirants were further entitled to nominate two agents to represent them at the results collation centre at the headquarters in Accra.
Advertisement
Mr Agyepong said the poll shall be taken between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. and only those still in the queue after 3 p.m. would be allowed to cast their votes.
He cautioned the media against declaration of their own results, since their results would be provisional until the EC had come with the certified results.