After serving his party in the capacity of a Third National Vice Chairman, Michael Omari Wadie, is confident that the delegates who will converge at the Accra Sports Stadium on Saturday, July 16, this year will vote for the number eight man on the ballot paper to become the First Vice Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
By doing so, he would have unseated the current First Vice Chairperson, Madam Rita Asobayire, and nine others who are all vying for this key position.
The 52-year-old native of Kwahu, who left his community in search of greener pastures in the capital, Accra, but later found himself sitting at table with NPP big wigs, says he had gone through the ranks, learnt enough and believes it was time for him to hold the office of the First Vice Chairman.
“I have served my people; I have represented my people, the constituencies and even the polling stations, and I believe that when they vote for me, the way I am and the way I work, which they know, I will be able to do more for them.”
Sharing his achievements with this paper, Omari Wadie, first of all, touted his days at Ayawaso West, where he held key positions, starting from Polling Station Chairman through to a Ward Chairman, as the reason the party could never lose both presidential and parliamentary elections in the constituency to the largest opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
According to the father of five, though he had kids to take care of, he dedicated time to nurture both the young and adults in Ayawaso West Wuogon to be firm believers in the principles and visions of the NPP, and that was why the NDC could never wrestle power from the NPP in the Constituency, irrespective of which ever candidate the opposition presented.
He bragged about how the likes of popular Ghanaian Actor John Dumelo and others were all beaten by the NPP aspirants due to his hard work in the Constituency.
“In my constituency, Ayawaso West Wuogon, the way I worked, that is what I can say has made Ayawaso what it is today, and NDC can never win. They always attempt to win, but it is not possible, I know. Because of the systems and structures, and the training, the grooming that we gave the people…As a Constituency Chairman I served and worked.”
The two-term Constituency Chairman said his hard work was not only limited to Accra, but other parts of the country. As the Chairman of all Chairmen in the Greater Accra Region, Mr. Omari Wadie says he toured the length and breadth of the region and other parts of the country to help his colleagues put structures and systems in place.
“I did not limit my works in Ayawaso West as a Constituency Chairman. As the Chairman of Chairmen, I was everywhere in Greater Accra. Where constituencies had needs or had challenges, I went there and helped the officers there, guide them, counsel them, and encourage them to work… And even not in Greater Accra alone, we were going to Eastern Region, Ashanti, Northern, Western…”
Seeing how student politics also impacts on national politics, Mr. Omari Wadie spoke about how he played key roles in the establishment of the Tertiary Students Confederacy (TESCON) in some tertiary institutions, namely the Central University, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) and the Zenith University College.
He noted that all these works had enabled him acquire leadership traits that appealed to both the grassroots and crème de la crème in the party -a trait he believed was very crucial for a party seeking to break the eight, come 2024.
To put minds at ease that he was not vying for the top position for personal benefits, the man who holds a degree in Entrepreneurship from GIMPA and has been in the car dealership business for over 34 years, said his hunger and thirst for the First Vice Chairman position was borne out of his interaction with the grassroots in various parts of the county while serving in various offices in the party.
According to him, seeing the needs of people was the driving force for him wanting to be the First Vice Chairman so he can serve the people well.
“…Sometimes we go and meet the people and that made me see the need for us to go up there so we can serve and help the people better.”
He fortified his stance of not going in for the position due to personal gains by indicating that he would not make phantom promises just to woo people to vote for him and would be found wanting when the time come for him to fulfill such promises. He said he believes his works will be translated into votes on Saturday.
But since he will not be the only one working at the party office, he called on all delegates to vote for the right candidates in the other positions being contested so that they can work together to help the party retain power in the 2024 elections.
He also advised those delegates whose candidate would lose to stay calm and support the party in anyway the can since the party comes first before any other thing.
