Preparing the NPP for election 2016: some suggestions.

I have seen the evidence that my party the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is sending to the Supreme Court. A lawyer under training can even win the case for us there is no doubt about this. Post+erity will not forgive the NPP if we were to keep taciturn about the deep rooted irregularities that characterized the 2012 elections.

But one thing that I honestly keep on thinking is the state of our party now. It is as if the party structures, from the polling stations to the constituencies across the regions and national, are on leave.

Anytime I meet a party fellow, our discussion is centred on our case at the Supreme Court. What we have not discussed extensively has been how to strengthen and reorganise our party for election 2016 even as we pursue our petition at the Supreme Court.

I think that we have to be organising and strengthening our party alongside our case at the Supreme Court. The NPP I know has a time table for party elections from the polling stations to the national level. What are we doing about such elections? What communication is there about it?

A few weeks ago the NDC announced that, they will hold their national delegates conference in December this year to elect national officers in preparation towards election 2016. We will be contesting election 2016 with the NDC and other political parties. So if they are organising their party whilst still fighting their credibility in court why shouldn’t we do same?

I was a candidate in the 2012 elections at the parliamentary level and I can say that we have a lot to do at all level of the party and it is about time we started doing something about the party structures.

My proposal is that, it will not be in the interest of our party to let our time table shake. Let us unfailingly follow our party time table in conducting elections at all levels.

Committees should be set up at every level to begin processes towards all elections. Let us start from the polling stations. Let us get our officers there ready. We have to make sure that this time around we get literates to man the polling stations especially in this era of biometric registration and completion of several forms at the close of elections at the various polling stations.

NDC says they will finish with all elections in their party by December. The General Secretary of the NPP, Sir John, should let us know when all elections from the polling stations to the national levels will be conducted. We need to know what the modalities and critical requirements for contesting elections should be.

It is my view that organising our party alongside our case at the Supreme Court will be same as killing two birds with one stone. We don’t have the option of time. We can’t hold back time and we cannot as well call for the rescheduling of election 2016 because we are in court. The election will come anyway so we have to also get ourselves ready anyway for it.

With the Supreme Court case currently ongoing, may I suggest to the Judges to avoid overt and covert delays. Ghana is standing still. New investors are hesitant to invest because they don’t know how things will play out in the country in a situation where the delay is seen to be deliberate.

It is in the supreme interest of the Supreme Court to fast track the case irrespective of the outcome. It will be unfair to allow things to progress at this unacceptable rate.

Whilst urging the Supreme Court to be fair and very firm as it looks into the various petitions, may I conclude by reminding our party that a stitch in time saves nine. Let us fight our case in court and let us also organise our party at all levels in preparations towards victory 2016.

By Akilu Sayibu

Email: Akilu.sayibu@live.uwe.ac.uk