Reflect party unity, peaceful nature – NPP Talensi parliamentary candidate urges supporters

The New Patriotic Party’s parliamentary candidate for the Talensi constituency, Robert Ayinenaba Alibo, has advised the party’s supporters to reflect the unity and peaceful nature of the party in their engagements to help retain power next year.

Mr Alibo, who emerged victorious in the party’s recent primaries, said the NPP was noted to be united, peaceful and coherent in fighting for power and all must work hard and together to preserve that record.

This, he said was critical if the party wanted to retain power in the December 2024 general elections.

He was speaking to the media after his victory at the elections held in Tongo in the Upper East Region.

A development practitioner, Alibo polled 235 of the valid votes to beat his two contenders; the District Chief Executive (DCE) of the Talensi District Assembly, Thomas Duanab Wuni Pearson, and the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Northern Development Authority, Williams Zoogah, who polled 196 and 82 votes respectively.

It was his third attempt at representing the party at the parliamentary level after losing out in the 2015 bye-elections and the 2020 general elections primaries. He became the first person from Winkogo, which has the largest electorates in the constituency to represent the NPP and he will now face off with the NDC parliamentary candidate, Daniel Duun Mahama, for the seat that has largely been a safe bet for the opposition party.

He mentioned education and agriculture as the key areas he would target with ideas during the main campaign but said now was the time to unite the party.

Speaking on the way forward, Alibo who cut his teeth in development work through key roles in many non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the Upper East Region, said NPP supporters in Talensi and nationwide needed to unit behind the party for a cohesive campaign.

In the Talensi constituency, he said he and the two other candidates were decorous during their campaign by resorting only to ideas and appealing to delegates to select the best person who can snatch the seat from National Democratic Congress.

He said that attitude, which was inspired by the NPP’s nature worked and further advised the supporters to do same.

“The elections are over and I and my two brothers are still the brothers we were before the elections. We did not insult each other; we campaigned on ideas and even after the election, we are stronger together. That is what the supporters must reflect,” he said.

He reminded the supporters that every action had consequences and that those who mirrored the party’s values in their actions would be rewarded when the time came.

Mr Alibo expressed the hope that the contest for the seat, which is traditionally an NDC seat, would be fair, where ideas and proposed programmes would be the bases for voting.

He said given his background as a development agent who had toured the entire constituency and region working with NGOs, he was better placed to advocate for the needs of the people than any other person.

“Beyond me serving very well in my party, I have also worked in the Talensi District for several years with many NGOs and I have always tried to go down to the community levels.

So there are many communities that when I get to, they associate me with the borehole that was drilled sometime back or the classroom block that was built and I think these will come together in my favour,” the NPP’s Parliamentary Candidate for the Talensi Constituency said.

“The good thing too is, I have always tried to ensure that I don’t bring my politics into community work and the people have come to realise that I do not discriminate and that is also a plus,” he added.

Mr Alibo said he was clear in his mind what was needed to ward off poverty, uplift and empower the people and open up the area to more investment.

The development practitioner said he and the NPP in the constituency would flesh out those ideas and proposals into a clear programme that they will sell to the Talensi people to decide on, come December 7, 2024.

“We have a clear programme. As a development person, I have come to understand our communities and I know what is needed. I am also coming from a background where I know that government can’t do everything by itself. So, are there things that communities can take up by themselves; are there things like the low hanging fruits that communities can plug,” he asked.

“I think education is the only platform through which communities can stand on and move and I see our school infrastructure to be very poor. Can we compare our infrastructure to those we have in Accra? I know these cant be done one day but as a starting point, if we are able to get one model learning center in each of three zones, where teachers will be mentors to help mentor other teachers around that center, our children can get the best form of education,” he said.

He also mentioned the need to promote climate-smart agriculture centered around natural regeneration where people are encouraged preserve and prune trees to help maintain the green vegetation to help improve yields and health.

On health, Alibo said the many centers across the constituency could benefit from a quality improvement programme that empowers the staff and stakeholders to help make the facilities more effective.