Over 744 members of United Renaissance Party (URP), founded by Kofi Wayo, including some national executives, have defected to the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
According to them, they abandoned URP and joined NPP because Nana Akufo Addo stands tall among the presidential aspirants.
They added that Nana Addo is more visionary and has a lot of experience in politics to help develop the country, adding that “the leader of URP, Kofi Wayo is not serious and lacks leadership qualities.”
The members have formed a group called “Arise for Nana Addo 2012,” which is aimed at mobilizing disgruntled members of the URP nationwide to join the NPP.
Speaking in an interview with DAILY GUIDE, the Spokesperson of “Arise for Nana Addo 2012,” Francis Sowah, a former national executive member of URP, said they realized that Kofi Wayo had no vision and does not tell the truth.
“We chose to join NPP because the party has good policies to create employment, revitalize the National Health Insurance Scheme and move the nation forward,” he said.
Mr. Sowah said he and some executive members defected to NPP on October 2, 2012 and formed the “Arise for Nana Addo 2012” to canvass vote for the NPP and its presidential candidate.
He said the group travelled to Volta region and Tamale in the Northern region to mobilize people who had left URP, adding that “we have been able to gather 744 defected members 320 in Volta region and 424 in Tamale.
Mr. Sowah said they would travel across the whole nation to mobilize former members of URP and other political parties to support the NPP and vote for Nana Addo.
According to him, Nana Addo’s promise to make Senior High School (SHS) education free was feasible and must be supported by all Ghanaians.
This, he said, was because parents wouldn’t have to pay school fees for their wards, stating that “this would reduce the burden on parents.”
The free SHS policy, he said, would also offer children of this country the opportunity to access education from basic to SHS level.