By Othello B. Garblah and Michelle Uduigwome.
As the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the National Patriotic Party (NPP) continue to delay in naming vice presidential candidates, two other political parties have named their Vice Presidential running mates.
At separate ceremonies in Accra on Friday last week, the United Ghana Movement (UGM) introduced Mr. Larry Adotey Addo as vice presidential running mate of the UGM, while the National Reform Party (NRP), named Mr. Cletus Joseph Kosiba as its vice presidential candidate.
In his acceptance speech, Mr. Larry Adotey Addo said he will work diligently to ensure the party’s victory at the December polls and pledged total commitment to the development of a prosperous and united Ghana.
He said the key to a strong and prosperous Ghana in the 21st century is a well educated and skilled people who are encouraged by an enabling environment of support for individual enterprise and achievement.
The small and medium scale business tycoon said the economic success and prosperity of the nation depends largely on the success of the small to medium scale enterprise. Productive foreign investors, he added, will not come if there are no credible local people to forge partnership with.
The private enterprise, he continued, which is said to be the engine of growth, has remained on the drawing board, while the foreign builders who had been expected to come with their money and skills to build and run the engine seem to have missed their way to Africa’s self-appointed Gateway.
The UGM Presidential Candidate, Dr. Charles Wereko Brobby, said Ghana must and should be managed by competent Ghanaians.
He called on the media to question the quality of those seeking power and give laid down solutions to Ghana’s socio-economic problems, than just saying what they will do when voted into power.
The UGM leader expressed dissatisfaction over the way some media houses have refused to cover the party’s activities and cautioned them against playing their own political role in the election.
At the NRP ceremony, the vice presidential candidate, Mr. Cletus Joseph Kosiba, said Ghana’s most pressing need is social commitment, adding that the nation is in danger of collapse and the NRP is leading a crusade to salvage the country from that imminent woe.
He said the nation can not continue to be managed on the basis of inequality or social exploitation. The challenge before us now is to create opportunities for every individual to contribute his or her best abilities and capabilities toward a collective national development effort, he added.
He called on the electorate to put the nation first before the growing tensions borne of poverty, social injustice, and growing social fragmentation destroy the little that the nation has.
Mr. Goosie Tanoh, Presidential Candidate, NRP, said the selection of a running mate is the first major executive decision of a presidential candidate, adding it reflects the purposefulness and judgement of the presidential aspirant.
He said the last few years have seen a dramatic decline in the life of the Ghanaian and the creeping despondency the people continue to face in the trauma of keeping body and soul together.
According to him, the economy is battered by incompetence, corruption and waste. The national political life, he said, is soured by invective, intimidation and sheer disrespect of the people.
The vision of the Reformists, he noted, is that Ghanaian should rise together as one nourished community by the freedom of the constitution and united in a national endeavour to overcome the disabling shackles of poverty.
