A flagbearer hopeful of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, has said that the seeming polarisation of the party cannot guarantee victory in the 2024 general elections if the issues are not addressed.
According to him, the party needed to work hard, close its ranks and approach the 2024 general elections with a more united front to attract the needed votes that will ensure victory for the party.
According to him, it is a dent on the image of the party and the government to see millions of Ghanaians, mostly party members, wallow in abject poverty.
In the view of Dr. Akoto, it was the aspirations of many party faithful to have a spark in their life when the NPP won the 2016 general elections having been in opposition for eight years.
However, their hopes were dashed following neglect by the party and the government, a situation Dr. Akoto described as “very sad and unfortunate”.
Addressing journalists at his Kumasi residence on Monday, October 2, 2023 the Cambridge University trained Economist said the challenge at hand will require that the winner of the presidential primary of the party prioritise it and initiate measures to address it before going into the 2024 general elections.
He said the people had so much hope in the party that the neglect of its base has brought about apathy, which needed someone with smart thinking and strategies to win back their confidence.
That is why he has offered himself as the best bet to lead and retain power for the party in the 2024 general elections.
“Ten months to the 2020 elections was when I even got a better view of what was going on. I was with President Akufo-Addo everywhere he went and the sentiments expressed by the people across the country were such that we couldn’t escape the fact that the morale of the NPP activists on the ground was very low.
And that is something that haunted some of us until the elections. We were able to escape defeat by the skin of the teeth. From 169 seats we came to 137 and the NDC also 137 seats in Parliament”, noted the former Food and Agriculture Minister.
He added, “So the NPP is not in a good place to contest to retain power next year and we have to address this issue very seriously. Anybody who aspires to bear the flag of the NPP, that should be the priority.
“I have a very clear understanding of the problems on the ground because I have been a Member of Parliament in Kwadaso here in Kumasi for eight years in opposition. So, I understand the concerns expressed by the activists on the ground who are polling station executives, Electoral Area Coordinators, and Constituency Executives who are more than 200,000 and who are being asked to cast their vote on the 4th of November to decide who will bear the flag of the NPP”.
Dr. Akoto, who also worked with the UN systems for more than eighteen years passionately appealed to the delegates to look at his track record and give him their mandate to lead the party and retain power for the UP tradition.
“When the party people are complaining about their denial and concerns, it really gets to my heart.
So, I am strongly appealing to the over 200,000 delegates across the country, most of who are farmers, that the kinds of policies that I have pursued to support them are unprecedented in terms of the supply of modern farm inputs, improved seeds and fertilizers, including their yields and production and getting them out of poverty and the kind of responses they gave me is something I appreciate a lot.
“The six years with the farmers in Ghana have shown that they can deliver us from poverty and our woes. I want to remind them not to forget these efforts that I made to support them and that the same enthusiasm and enlightenment that I gave in trying to support them in their work will be even more so if I leave this party and with their support, win the presidency come next year.
“Agriculture is going to be the center of our attention in term of the allocation of public resources to help them to transform this country to bring us the surpluses in terms of foreign exchange”, he underscored.
Suspension of Ashanti Region tour
Dr. Akoto used the occasion to officially announce the suspension of his tour to the Ashanti Region in order to mourn with the former President of the Republic of Ghana, John Agyekum Kufuor, who lost his wife, Theresa Kufuor, on Sunday, October 1, 2023.
The former Food and Agriculture Minister was scheduled to begin his week-long tour in the Ashanti Region this week by holding strategic meetings with key party members at different locations in the region. This was to scale up efforts in rallying support for his presidential bid.
The NPP goes to the polls on November 4, 2023, to select a presidential candidate who will lead the party to the 2024 general elections.
Dr. Akoto is number 3 on the ballot paper. He placed 4th in the Super Delegates Conference held on August 26, 2023.
Over 200,000 delegates are expected to vote in the National Delegates Conference on November 4, 2024.
By Stephen Odoi-Larbi
