Nana Addo�s Boys �Charge� For 2012

THE TEEMING youth of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) have started lacing their boots to launch what promises to be a vigorous and intensive campaign ahead of the 2012 Presidential and Parliamentary elections. This became evident when hundreds of the party�s supporters turned up at a rally and launch of what has been dubbed �Operation Recapture Greater Accra�, organised over the weekend by the youth wing of the NPP in the region. The event was part of efforts by the party to reclaim most of the Parliamentary seats it lost to the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2008 general elections. Speakers at the function stressed the need for the NPP to win most of the seats in the Greater Accra region, adding that Ghanaians must show the NDC the exit since, according to them, the NDC government had woefully failed to deliver its numerous promises. Key among them was the National Youth Organiser of the party, Anthony Abayifa Karbo, Member of Parliament (MP) for Bimbilla Dominic Nitiwul, MP for Abuakwa South Attah Akyea, parliamentary candidates for Dome-Kwabenya, Ablekuma Central, and Odododiodoo, Adwoa Safo, Ebenezer Nortey and Captain Okaikoi respectively. The rest included former National Organiser of the party Lord Commey, Mike Ocquaye Jnr and outspoken member of the NPP, lawyer Adomako Baafi and a host of others. They therefore urged the rank and file of the party to join the campaign to unseat the NDC administration since in their respective opinions, the party and government had nothing good to offer Ghanaians. Anthony Karbo said considering the battle ahead, �the only way out for us in this election is for us young people of this party, youth organisers, constituency youth organisers, polling stations youth organisers and youth organisers across the country; they have to put their energies together so we can fight the elections in 2012�. Much as he extolled the virtues of discipline on the party, he warned, �We the young men in the NPP want those people (NDC) to take note that never again will we sit back and allow the NDC to have their way in this election.� He added that the NPP would not compromise on its stand or allow the party to be cheated in any election conducted in this country. �However, let us send a clear message of warning to colleagues on the other side (NDC) that we the youth of this party will not sit down and allow our flagbearer to be a punching bag for anybody in the political market,� he said. Instead, the tough-talking Karbo said, �We are prepared to hold down the propaganda machinery of the NDC. We are prepared to meet the NDC squarely in this election. We are not calling for violence but we are calling for a situation where we have respect for each other on the day of the election in 2012.� To this end, he said the youth of the party would ensure that NPP won the 2012 general elections, with its Presidential Candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in the driving seat. He therefore tasked the various security agencies to ensure a free and fair election because �we will not entertain any act of intimidation in the election in 2012�. �Through the media, through the new social networking, we are going to ensure that we fight this election from the boot to the boot, in the air, in the land, in the sea, in the water. We are prepared to declare this election, a victory for the New Patriotic Party,� he stated. Dedication The National Youth Organiser of the NPP told the enchanted crowd, �We must be prepared to dedicate ourselves to the work of this party. He added, �we must put aside the personal issues�, urging them to �put aside the issues that stand to divide us and rather promote matters that bring us together� and �focus on the battle ahead�. �We must be determined to fight this fight on the principles of our forbearers of the party; that the NPP is a party of bold men. The NPP is a party of courageous people and we the young people of this party have resolved to that we are going to work hard. We are going to the nooks and crannies of the country,� he charged. The party has since adopted what it described as �room-to-room� campaign strategy to win the 2012 general elections since, according to its National Youth Organiser of the NPP, �we are going to take the campaign into the rooms of everybody. It is not going to be a �door-to-door� campaign; it is going to be a �room-to-room� campaign��. For this reason, he said, the party would be in the capacity to mobilise young people across the length and breadth of the country to reclaim power from the hands of the ruling NDC to enable the NPP�s Presidential Candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo to become the next President of the Ghana. This, he said, was because Ghana as a country had not witnessed the slightest change since President Mills and his NDC administration took over the reins of power almost 3years ago. Yet, Karbo said, �We are being told by Okudzeto Ablakwa (Deputy Information Minister) that the Mills administration has created 1.6million jobs since it took over government.� He asked rhetorically, �so if you have created 1.6million jobs, how come your youth are going about taking over state properties; seizing public toilets and the rest?� This, according to him, was evident in the fact that �there are no jobs the NDC people can offer the youth of this country� and that what the ruling party and government told Ghanaians were �nothing but a pack of blatant lies.� That notwithstanding, the tough-talking Youth Organiser said, �We the young men in the NPP know that our party is one when you follow, you can get something significant from it like satisfaction, jobs and earn a living.� On his part, former National Organiser of the NPP Lord Commey told the packed crowd �this party belongs to you. The victory 2012 would be assured if we all rise up and make up our minds that never again shall we sit in laxity for anybody to cheat us and snatch power from us and I�m sure your leaders have said you a lot. All I am saying is that we are still around. We will still be behind you. We will still support you for the �all-die-be-die� so that 2012 victory shall be ours.�