The New Patriotic Party (NPP) branch in Chicago in the United States of America has decided to sponsor the establishment of an international desk at the party?s national headquarters in Accra.
The branch will pay the salary of the officer to be engaged as well as furnish the office with the requisite facilities and equipment to make him/her efficient.
Nana Kofi Owusu Ansah, a founding member of the party and General Secretary of the Chicago branch, disclosed this in an interview with the Daily Graphic on Wednesday.
He explained that the creation of the international desk had become paramount with the passage of the Representation of People Amendment Act (ROPAA) recently. He said the officer would be responsible for liaising with members of the party in the diaspora as well as coordinating the contributions of branches and member of the party in the diaspora.
Nana Owusu Ansah said some of the members of the party in the diaspora had always wanted to support the party but had often found it difficult to establish contact.
He commended Mr. Peter Mac Manu on his election as National chairman of the party and described it as a ray of hope to the rank and file of the party, especially those in the diaspora.
He said with caliber of the personnel who formed the national leadership, Mr. Mac Manu would lead the party to victory in the 2008 general elections. Nana Owusu Ansah commended the national chairman for his show of appreciation to all the delegates who took part in the last congress including those who did not vote for him.
He suggested the establishment of a rapid response team at the national headquarters to respond to allegations and charges made against the government and the party as soon as they were made.
Very often, he said, some of these allegations were left unexplained which tended to affect the image of the party in the public domain.
Nana Owusu Ansah explained that when these allegations were left unexplained, people tended to form adverse opinions about the government and the party, which he said hurt those in the diaspora.
He also suggested the establishment of a strategic think-tank, made up of party faithful and intellectuals to brainstorm on ideas and suggestions forwarded to the party to streamline them for effective policy implementation. Nana Owusu Ansah further called for the inclusion of all card-bearing members of the party in the selection of parliamentary candidates so that the candidate-elect would be really representative of the party.
In that respect, he extended an invitation to Mr. Mac Manu on behalf of the Chicago branch to visit the USA to launch a membership drive.
On the performance of the NPP administration, Nana Owusu Ansah commended President J.A. Kufour for providing the kind of leadership which had led to political stability and tranquility in the past six years.
He said there had been a lot of infrastructural development across the width and breath of the country which had been capped with the launch of a National Health Insurance Scheme and the Capitation Grant for public basic schools. Nana Owusu Ansah appealed to government agencies to keep reminding the electorate of the phenomenal achievements of the NPP government, which, he said, often go unpublicized.
According to him, it was rather the challenges facing the government which were highlighted but not its successes. He was, however, convinced that the electorate would return the NPP to power in 2008.
Nana Owusu Ansah advised presidential aspirants of the party to stay true to themselves, play by the rules and show that they could perform.
He said the electorate would evaluate them based on their performance and character and they should, therefore, avoid seeking their personal interests, stressing that ?the electorate would return the right kind of person?.
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