Patriotic members of the New Patriotic Party: I address you as an ordinary but committed member of our noble tradition on a matter of great concern. You have been entrusted with the destiny of the party in choosing which of the four candidates contesting the position of the National Chairman is the most suitable. Your choice will decide which direction the party will go. Would you rather vote for the wrong person who will stand helplessly as our party machinery founders in the midst of turbulent waters?
It is in the light of the above that I am appealing to all those who have the love of the party to vote for Jake. Jake is not an angel, just like the other contestants. But of the lot, he it is who has the capability of returning the party to power. Most of the innovative ideas and radical and laudable policies which catapulted the New Patriotic Party from opposition into government were initiated by Jake. At the time people were afraid to be associated with the New Patriotic Party, Jake put both his head and career on the firing range. He fired long salvos which deflated the ballistic missiles in the armoury of the National Democratic Congress.
Jake was there from the beginning. Stephen Ntim has also made his own contributions, but he became the National First Vice Chairman when the NPP was in Government. Let people not forget the fact that it was Jake whose courage, foresight and determination brought the party to power. And this act which paved the way for Stephen Ntim to get elected into the National Executives.
I stand on the issue of zoning. I shall later do a piece on zoning party’s positions amongst the various Geo-Political Divisions of the country. The New Patriotic Party has always been touted as an Akan Party. What other way to disabuse the minds of those who hold this notion than to elect Jake who is a non-Akan as its National Chairman. This will be a strategic and deliberated policy to re-assure our brothers and sisters from the minority tribes that they are a force to reckon with when it comes to taken decisions that affect the generality of the party.
One strong quality of Jake which sets him out from the rest is that he is a grass-root politician who gets things moving when the odds are stacked heavily against the party. We should not overlook the pragmatic strategy he came up with which enabled the NPP to win the Ablekuma bye-election and prevented the NDC from gaining a two-thirds majority seat in Parliament. Such a feat is unprecedented in the political history of the New Patriotic Party.
Patriotic delegates, who are ordinary but committed members of the party like me. I, like you feel the pains of our defeat, because we all toiled in our own individual ways to ensure that the party retained power at the national level. So I know what you all are going through. But let me state that of all the candidates vying for the position of National Chairman, Jakes stands out as his records speak for themselves. He says we should elect our Flag-bearer early in line with the party’s constitution which stipulates that when the party is not in Government its Presidential Candidates must be elected not later that two years before the next election. He knows that after the winner has been declared, there must be a period for a healing process to take place. He knows what went on during previous primaries and so has come up with such a strategic and pragmatic idea. Do not forget that he was instrumental in bring together all those who contested the Party’s primaries with the eventual winner, the late Professor Adu Boahene. He brokered a truce between Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the eventual winner, Mr. John Agyekum Kufuor. This was no mean an achievement.
We need someone who has the ability to calm fraying nerves and heal wounds amongst party supporters and sympathizers’. And if we were to look for such a person, it should not be difficult to find. Jake easily comes to mind. His magic did it then. And given the opportunity, he will repeat the feat. He has the magic torch. Just put him in the driver’s seat and he will take all of us safely to our destination – the eventual winning of power at the centre. He has the torch and the flame. Let us give the New Patriotic Party the Old Time Religion, for it is good enough for the party.
And who is this Old Time Religion? Jake Otanka Obetsebi Lamptey, of course! God bless all you patriotic delegates as you make a wise and informed choices
Daniel Danquah Damptey (danieldanquah_damptey@yahoo.com).
