About five thousand members and sympathisers of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Sunday, May 5, 2024 hit the streets of Asokwa in a unity walk that brought together the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for the area and two others who contested her.
Madam Patricia Appiagyei, popularly known as Mama Pat, Francis Nana Yaw Boakye and Edmund Kyei competed in the NPP parliamentary primaries for Asokwa constituency held in January 2024, with the incumbent MP winning to represent the constituents on the ticket of the party for the fourth time in Parliament.
The unity walk, which was initiated by Mama Pat, now deputy majority leader of the Parliament of Ghana, was meant to build bridges and consolidate their gains, going into the 2024 parliamentary elections.
Supporters of all the three candidates were present in the exercise, which also saw some regional executives of the party participating.
The Managing Director of Metro Mass Transit Limited, Albert Adu Boahen, who is revered in the Asokwa constituency, as their proud son, was also in attendance.
The walk, led by Mama Pat and joined by Edmund Kyei and Nana Yaw Boakye, took off from Dompoase Junction amidst drumming and dancing and ended at Millennium Plaza.
Majority of the party faithful were adorned in the NPP colours – red, blue and white – and displayed placards, some of which read: ‘Let us unite to break the 8’, ‘For free SHS to progress vote NPP’, ‘Dr. Bawumia for President’, ‘We are breaking the 8 with Mama Pat’ and ‘Bold solutions for our future’ among many others.
Some were also wearing branded T-shirts of Mama Pat with Dr. Bawumia, the party’s flagbearer for the 2024 presidential elections.
Addressing the party supporters, Mama Pat espoused the need for unity, urging the rank and file of the party at the constituency to forgive one another and come together to champion their collective interest – to retain power in the 2024 general elections.
“All of you gathered here today, there is one thing that I know. That the fight ahead of us is going to be very difficult.
“However, we can only defeat our political opponents when we work together. Today, I am very happy our son Edmund Kyei and Nana Yaw Boakye are here with us. They have demonstrated that we are more united than ever and ready for the task ahead of us”, she noted.
She added “Together, we are going to promote the vision of our flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and the party to maximise enough votes to break the eight-year governance cycle. It is possible but we can only achieve that when we are united”.
Both Nana Yaw Boakye and Edmund Kyei stressed on party cohesion and urged all the party faithful to do away with internal bickering and rancor, assuring that with unity, they can overcome their adversaries.
By Stephen Odoi-Larbi
