Ashanti Regional Minister Simon Osei-Mensah, addressing the Media
The Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei-Mensah, has cautioned members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to be moderate in their celebrations following the outcome of the NPP Presidential Primary, which is underway across the country.
He has urged NPP delegates to celebrate in the name of the party, but not a candidate.
“The focus of our celebration should be on the NPP, which has been able to conduct an election without a misunderstanding”, Osei-Mensah told journalists when he visited the Prempeh Assembly Hall, where Subin constituency is having its presidential primary.
The party, according to Osei-Mensah, who used to be a legislator for the people of Bosomtwe, Ashanti, does not belong to any individual candidate, nor does it belong to supporters of a particular candidate.
He was emphatic that for the NPP to remain in power, they have to unite. “If we want to remain in power, we need to close our ranks,” he said.
Voting proceedings going on smoothly at the refurbished Prempeh Assembly Hall, Kumasi
Walking the media down the historical political antecedent in Ghana about unity and cohesion of the NPP, Osei-Mensah, who until his departure from Parliament was a member of the ECOWAS Parliament, was of the view that since 1992, projects and money alone do not warrant political victory in Ghana; rather, unity is the magic wand that leads to political victory.
According to the Ashanti Regional Minister,who was sported in a white smock and cap bearing the inspiration ‘Keep Kumasi Green and Clean’, he indicated to the media that unity is the only thing that can grant a political party in Ghana an election victory.
“Prior to our electoral victory in 2000, the NPP, or UP, had been in opposition for about 34 years . Had it been projects that were the trump card to victory,we would not have won an election.
To him, the NPP then in 2000 had logistical challenges, but because we were united as a party, President Kufour was able to win the general elections at the expense of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), which was fragmented then.
He added that in 2008, the NPP was disunited, and this saw them lose the 2008 elections painfully to the NDC, and the same thing was repeated in 2016 when the NPP whisked power from a disunited NDC to power.
