We must trust each other to win power – Akufo-Addo

The flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has called on the executives of the party to "trust each other” and stop the infighting.

According to him, it is the NPP that loses ahead of the 2016 general elections if the internal wrangling continues hence unity is key to snatch power from the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Akufo-Addo who is currently on a 16-day tour of Europe expressed regret and concern over the "avoidable tensions" and "negative press" that the Danquah-Busia-Dombo tradition is going through.

Last Thursday, the national chairman and the general secretary Paul Afoko and Kwabena Agyepong respectively were chased out of a meeting in the Upper East region by some irate party supporters.

Speaking to the Daily Guide, Nana Addo said "all of us are very concerned about these negative incidents.

“There is no excuse for what happened in the Upper East. The regional leadership has apologised and I am encouraged about the efforts to bring greater understanding going forward from here."

He added: “It is important that we work together in a sincere and lasting atmosphere of trust, we must all accept that we are all working together in good faith."

Nana Akufo-Addo appealed to his party people to shift away from the air of mistrust that appears to have engulfed sections of the party, especially among the leadership at the national and regional levels. "The grassroots are united behind us and we must do more at the top to show to them and the country that we are solid in our conviction to win power together next year."

He said, "We should all be careful about fielding perceptions of mistrust. It cannot be helpful when we begin to tag some elected officers as having a separate agenda to the ultimate task of winning the 2016 elections. If we continue to mistrust the intentions of those elected to lead us, we end up directing our energies towards ourselves rather than towards addressing the concerns of the Ghanaian people and the necessary task of organising ourselves to contest with our full strength in 2016.

"It is only our political opponents who will benefit from us mistrusting each other. Ghanaians are looking up to us and we must show to them that we are indeed ready to offer them the hope and effective leadership that they deserve."

Nana Akufo-Addo re-emphasised his message to his party to "concentrate all our energies against the bad governance that the people are enduring and help to reinforce the confidence of the Ghanaian people that in us they are sure of a better and competent alternative.

“We cannot afford to be seen to be opposing ourselves rather than opposing the difficulties the people are struggling with."