Member of Parliament (MP) for Asuogyaman in the Eastern region, Kofi Osei-Ameyaw, has invested a whopping one million Ghana cedis into the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
The money, the MP says, is to help build the capacity of the over 130,000 polling station executives and members of the party towards the 2016 General Elections.
“This investment is a demonstration of what we believe should be done to win election 2016. We need to build on the capacity level of the polling station executives and that is exactly what I am doing,” he noted.
According to the business tycoon, he is not embarking on such venture as means of winning the heart of the grassroots but doing it “because it is his priority.”
He, however, did not rule out contesting the flag-bearership position of the party if the opportunity arises.
“I have never said anywhere that I have any intention to stand for presidency. The decision will be made by those who are empowered to make the decision. And if those decision makers at any stage see me as fit and proper for that position and they want to endorse me and declare me and present me for an election, I would oblige,” the former deputy minister for trade & industry averred.
In an interview with Today, the MP used the opportunity to condemn the upsurge of various youth groups in the party purporting to support candidates aspiring to be the party’s flag-bearer slot for the 2016 presidential election.
On Tuesday, May 27, 2014 a group claiming to represent the Greater Accra Youth Wing of the NPP demanded that the party allows 2012 presidential candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to go unopposed for election 2016.
The group, consequentially, called for the withdrawal of all competitors for the party’s presidential primary scheduled for December, 2014.
But such call was immediately rebutted by Nana Addo the following day, May 28, 2014 when he issued a statement to distance himself from the youth group.
Also on Wednesday, another group from the NPP, calling itself Crusaders of Nana Akufo-Addo (CONNA,) pledged to ensure that the former Attorney-General & Minister of Justice gets 90% of the total votes when the party goes to the polls in December this year.
Mr. Alan Kwadwo Kyeremanten has also had the backing of another group affiliated to the NPP called Get Alan Kyeremanten Elected (GAKE).
But the actions of these groupings, according to the Asuogyaman MP, are not in the best interest of the party since “it can only worsen the already enmity between Nana Addo and Alan Kyeremanten and their followers.
…And even though Nana Addo will come and disclaim – the question is who orchestrated it? So where is this taking us and why have we resorted to the media if there is a problem? Why don’t we write to the leadership of the party for redress?”
He added “If you look into our party, the object is to be able to sponsor a candidate for elections into any public office as required under the constitution of the Republic of Ghana, sponsor candidates for election, to win political power through democratic means in order to pursue the party’s agenda provided in the party’s manifesto for general elections. So, for anyone to come and say some people should not participate in an election when the nominations, guidelines as to who qualifies, has not even come out amounts to vile threats. And for that matter some intimidatory tendencies are raising its ugly head.”
“If these people are NPP members, we should investigate and deal with the situation which seeks to divide our front towards elections 2016,” he added.
He said what the NPP needed most at this time was unity.
Against this backdrop, the legislator also urged Nana Addo and Alan Kyeremanten to end attacks on each other as according to him, it is undermining party unity.
This, he noted, is the foremost component in winning power from the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) rather than the self-centered interest that has crept into the party over the years.
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