I hold the key to NDC's defeat - Agyarko

Kwasi Boakye Danquah Agyarko, one of the NPP aspiring candidates says he holds the key to defeating the NDC when he is voted to lead the Party in the 2008 General Elections.

Speaking to party members on his campaign tours that flew him to Ashanti, Northern and Eastern regions, the former vice-President of the Bank of New York, who has resigned because of the presidential race did not mince words when he told party faithfuls that, he was about the right candidate who could make life unbearable for NDC in 2008.

He said, Ghana is one of the few countries in the world which are endowed with natural resources that could help push the nation on a sound economic footing. According to Mr. Agyarko when he is given the mandate to lead NPP and Ghana, his presidency will see the nation benefiting from its valuable resources. Mr. Agyarko in a chat with THE SUN, did not hide why he has decided to seek the highest office of the land.

There are two broad types of people who seek public office. Those who want to be and those who want to do.

…He Outlines His Political Philisophy

Those who want to be, seek office merely to be in office. They simply enjoy the thrills and trappings of power of the office and simply think in terms of hierarchy. For such office seekers, there are no solemn responsibilities and obligations to assume, no sacred duties to perform and a lack of an understanding that the office establishes a covenant with the electorate and the nation at large, which covenant imposes on the office holder a sacred duty which cannot be shed. They talk in terms of, “It is my turn...” or “it is NOT the turn of this or the other opponent”. Apart from themselves it is not the turn of anyone else. They hold the false belief that there is a competent authority that has established a line of succession which has been agreed upon by all and sundry and is to be followed. This is merely wishful thinking. Such office seekers are not able to compete because they have no credible ideas or policies and programs to convince the electorate of their suitability for the office they seek.

Then there are those who want to do. They seek public office as a platform; the means by which and through which the public good may be achieved. Such office seekers talk incessantly about the programs they seek to implement for the public good. Their focus is on policy, debate and discussion – and let the best man win and not who is in an imaginary line of succession.

I have come to see the Presidency as the most solemn and effective platform from which we can get this country moving again. After 50 years of independence, we must seriously question ourselves whether we are satisfied with where we are and what we have become.

Could we not have done far better than we are now? I certainly believe we could have, can and must. I have traveled around the world as a professional banker and have seen many countries with less than what we have, do much more than what we have done. It is time for us as a nation to strive for higher heights. After my many years of experience in a very vibrant private sector, I trust that I have acquired very considerable knowledge, skills and contacts to be put at the disposal of my own country. I believe that anyone who is blessed with what I have been blessed with owes a public duty, which I do not intend to step away from.

Why now? The right of center political ideology that is espoused by our tradition is as relevant today as it was many years ago when our venerable Dr. J.B.

Danquah first coherently articulated it as the guiding philosophy appropriate to and for the development of this nation. The world over, the opposing ideology on the left failed to deliver and has collapsed. Our political message and the practical policies derived from it are therefore very credible. Every credible message needs a credible messenger, and I am unshakeable in my belief that I can live up to the billing. We cannot deny or run away from the disillusionment, disappointment and frustration of our loyalists and foot soldiers. We cannot deny the deep sense of unfulfilled expectation of the nation at large. In the main, there is a foreboding sense that we have not delivered to our level of expectation or potential as a Party with talent – hence a credibility problem going into 2008. So of my fellow contestants, I ask, what is it that you intend to do going forward, that you already have not had the opportunity to do after almost eight years in office. Let your record of service speak for itself.

I believe in the theory of Future Preference, which holds that the future can and must be better than the present, and that we all have a responsibility in making it so. We therefore need a new dynamism that will infuse such optimism with competence and confidence. We need a new leadership that can exude the conviction that success is attainable -THE SUN