A flagbearer hopeful of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, has told party delegates to build a strong formidable and united front in order to win the 2024 general elections.
He said presently, the party is riding on a limping leg due to the level of apathy within the rank and file of the party as there have been several complains by the party people that they have not reaped the benefits of their efforts to bring the party into the power in the 2016 and 2020 general elections.
He, has therefore, assured them that he will work tirelessly to address all their concerns and build a formidable front in order to win the 2024 elections should he be elected as the flagbearer of the NPP.
“Due to the hard work of the Polling Station Executives and Electoral Area Coordinators as well the constituency executives among others, President Akufo-Addo won the 2016 Presidential elections with more than 1.5million votes In the Parliamentary elections, we won 167 seats out of the 275 seats. Was the story the same in 2020? In the presidential elections, our numbers dropped and in the parliamentary elections, we lost 32 seats. This should send a signal that we need a new direction and focus as a party”, he noted.
He added “When I became the Minister of Food and Agriculture, I decided to visit all the 16 regions every year to see if how the programs and policies the Ministry is implementing is impacting on the lives of the people except 2020 during the outbreak of the COVID-19. During those times, every region I visited, I found time to interact with party faithful if all was well with them. To be honest with you, what I heard wasn’t pleasant at all. Almost everybody is crying that they have been abandoned; they don’t have any work to do, they are starving, their children are not able to go to school. We can’t go into the 2024 general elections with this situation we find ourselves in”.
The former Minister of Food and Agriculture made this observation while addressing party delegates made of polling station executives, electoral area coordinators, constituency executives and council of elders on his nationwide campaign tour which begun in the Greater Accra Region on Monday, June 3, 2023.
Among the constituencies Dr. Afriyie Akoto visited are Shai-Osudoku, Ningo-Prampram, Ashaiman, Domeabra-Obom, Ayawaso East and Ayawaso West North constituencies.
He was accompanied by his two Co-Campaign Chairmen, Alfred Boye, a former Greater Accra NPP Regional Chairman, and KEN-WUUD Nuworsu, also a former NPP Volta Regional Chairman, the National Coordinator of the Campaign Team, Peter Oteng Darko, and the Campaign Spokesperson, Dr. Prince Sodoke Amuzu.
Speaking further to the issue, Dr. Afriyie Akoto, who is also a two-term Member of Parliament (MP) for Kwadaso, said the current state of the party is not the best to enter into the 2024 general elections with, underscoring the importance of building a strong and formidable united front to break the eight-year governance cycle.
Determined to change the situation, Dr. Afriyie Akoto assured the delegates that he will endeavor to explore options to address all their welfare concerns when the give him the nod to be the party’s flagbearer for the 2024 general elections.
“I am pleading with you not to despair but to keep hope alive. A vote for Dr. Afriyie Akoto will ensure that things are changed for the better. Your welfare has always been my topmost priority and will continue to be when you vote for me as flagbearer of the NPP”, he underscored.
Source: Peacefmonline com
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Hmmmm, as a minister you went round the country and spared sometime to interact with party supporters and what you heard wasn't pleasant at all. The party youth said the feel betrayed and abandoned. Between the time you went round the country to the day you resigned, was the story still the same or things have changed for the better. If you win the party's presidential primaries can you use 1 year 6 months to treat the limping leg now that you are no longer hold any position in the government ? Initially you i.e. the appointees thought you were harming the party's supporters especially the ordinary NPP supporter, now that the battle lines are about to be drawn the importance of the ordinary NPP supporter has suddenly become a topical issue in the NPP. The politics of 1992- 96, 2000- 2016 have given way. Like the proverbial Vulture, it only knows the importance of a nest when beaten heavily by rain. Once the harmattan sets in , it says , forget it, this rains will not fall again any time soon. Before it realizes the rains are in again and the beatings continue. This is the best description for the current NPP appointees and those at the presidency. Human beings are not like hoes which are hanged on trees after the farming season and forgotten of, only to be remembered when the farming season is ready. You get to the tree where you hanged the forgotten hoe only to realize that termites have eaten the wooden part. Former president Kufuor and his appointees were very skillful in moving party and government together, for every step they took in government they looked back to be sure the party was closely following, the reason why after 8 years the party was still popular thus the 49% lead Akuffo Addo got in the first round of the 2008 elections. Unfortunately for the current NPP leadership they lack that enviable skill of kufour and his team. Today it's no other person but a former cabinet minister who resigned barely 3 months ago who is lamenting about the neglect of the ordinary NPP supporter from what he heard from the horses own mouth, am not saying it, this is what Owusu Afriyie Akoto is saying . Hope whoever wins the primaries will work to bring back the enthusiasm of the party's support base. If not, bet me, 2024 will be tackling from behind and in front , your own party in front and the main opponent ie the NDC from behind.
Dr. Akoto , the Beacon of message has said it all. He is a unifier and he should be given the nod to act. We Want success for Ghana and that will come through Dr.Akoto