A flagbearer hopeful of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, has said his conviction to lead the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2024 general election is not motivated by the pride of his heritage in the UP tradition and hence, the sense of entitlement to lead the party in the current leadership race.
Instead, it has engendered his life-long commitment to work tirelessly to realise the vision of the Founding Fathers of the party.
He said, as the son of Baffour Akoto, founder and leader of the National Liberation Movement (NLM), he belongs to a generation of party members who trace their roots right to the very birth of the United Party (UP) tradition, but that does not bestow on him any sense of entitlement in the current NPP leadership race. Rather, his zeal to realise the dream of the founders of the party is his biggest motivation.
“I belong to the generation of party members who trace their roots right to the very birth of our tradition. But the pride of this heritage does not bestow on any of the entitlement in the current leadership race.
“Rather, it has engendered a real life-long commitment to work tirelessly to realise the vision of the founding fathers on whose shoulders our tradition and the spirit of the party stands”, he noted.
Dr. Akoto made this observation when he addressed a press conference in Accra on Thursday, September 14, 2023, over his preparedness for the NPP National Delegates Conference scheduled for November 4, 2024.
Economic hardship
Motivated by the dream of the founding fathers of the UP tradition, the former two-term Member of Parliament for Kwadaso, in the Ashanti Region, who holds two post-graduate degrees (M.Sc and PhD) from one of the most prestigious universities in the world, Cambridge University, assured of working tirelessly to ensure that he wins the mandate of the delegates of the party.
He also assured to subsequently as President of the Republic of Ghana, to turn around the fortunes of the country through pragmatic policies and programs with Agriculture as the bedrock and uplift the people the economic hardships they are going through.
To this effect, he has urged members of his campaign team in all the Electoral Areas and constituencies in the country to work diligently to ensure that all delegates vote massively for him (number 3 on the ballot box) to lead the charge for an emphatic victory in the December 2024 Presidential elections.
Victory
“I know the battle ahead is not going to be easy, but with determination and blessings from the Almighty, victory will be ours”, he assured.
Dr. Akoto, a former Minister of Food and Agriculture, who also worked in the UN systems for more than 18 years, placed 4th in the Special Delegates Conference held on Saturday, August 26, 2023, surprising many political pundits and pollsters.
He is expected to intensify his campaign in the coming weeks as he re-strategises ahead of the NPP presidential primary ‘showdown’.
Over 210,000 party delegates are expected to exercise their franchise in the much-publicised elections.
By Stephen Odoi-Larbi
