NPP needs root-to-branch reforms

Of all the parliamentary seats NPP lost in this year's elections, that of Tema West is what makes my stomach churn.

When I was posted to the Tema General Hospital as a young medical Radiology professional in 1990, I was given a government accommodation at Konuah flats, very close to the late Mr P.V. Obeng's residence at Com.2.

We used to hold secret Danquah-Busia club meetings at Kalamazoo at the BBC lorry station where the late Jewel Ackah lived before relocating to the SSNIT Flats at Com.3.

At the time, my interest in politics was motivated, purely, by just getting Rawlings and his P(NDC) out of power and off our TV screens.

So when it was time for the referendum on the 1992 4th Republican constitution, we mounted a spirited campaign for a YES vote, just to usher in democratic governance and see the back of Rawlings' totalitarianism.

My polling station was around Dr Edmund Dele's dermatology hospital, opposite Agba Maame chop bar which was at it's formative stage at Com.2.

And when we succeeded in YES winning in the referendum and ushered in democracy, a new voter register was compiled and I registered at the Lutheran Church in Com.2. Voter ID had no picture at the time, and the ballot box was like coffin.

Tema West constituency, since 1996 when NPP first took part in parliamentary elections, has been highly elitist enclave, populated, predominantly by middle class people, has been a no-go area for all political parties, particularly the ndc.

The constituency houses officials of Ghana National Petroleum (GNPC), Bank of Ghana (BoG), Social Security&National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Atlantic Port Services (APS) and so on. And for that matter, ndc had never had presence there.

So, for the ndc to win this constituency, for me, is an anathema of political earthquake with the magnitude of 7.9 on the Richter's scale.

And for me, if we, as members of the New Patriotic Party fail to do sincere forthright postmortem, coupled with roots to branches overhaul, the future wouldn't be bright by way of our fortunes at the polls.

Let's put our shoulders to the wheels, abhor intra-party factionalism, give opportunities to those with competence and zeal to work for the party, and push into the shadows, this razzmatazz by celebrities with absolutely no interest or understanding of the party's ideological inclinations.

Justice A. Newton-Offei

newtonoffeija@gmail.com