Mr. Joseph Boakye Danquah, an economic development expert and a registered member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) since 1997, has broken ties with the party and declared his intention to contest the 2024 elections as an independent candidate in the Subin constituency.
He has cited the monetisation that has characterised the selection of candidates, describing the delegate system as corrupt and unsustainably monetized.
The 2016 Subin parliamentary aspirant complained at a press conference last week that he has been side-lined over the past ten years and not treated fairly, and feels the party does not need him.
According to him, the party which wrote “The Stolen Verdict” after the 1992 General elections is broken and not acting in tandem with the founding principles for which he joined the party.
To end the suffering of Ghanaians from the corrupt NDC/ and NPP duopoly, he intends represent constituents and help address Poverty, Youth unemployment, Lack of Leadership and advocacy and arrogance of Power as an independent and courageous voice to speak to truth to power and pursue strategies to enhance the quality of life of Subin constituents, consult and build consensus with stakeholders to strengthen democracy and advocacy.
According to him, his success as an individual is linked with the success of Subin as a community, hence the motivation to take up a leading role in the development of the community.
He said his bid is informed by the fact that the Parliament of Ghana needs independent and courageous voices that can speak truth to power and work to protect the interest of the people and believes he has the courage, intelligence and the motivation to be one of those voices.
He assured that: “I will serve you in humility and in the fear of God” and offer an inclusive leadership based on the deeper understanding of the Subin community
J.B. Danquah, 58, has proposed a paradigm shift for the development of the constituency and has therefore adopted a transformational plan dubbed ‘Subin Reimagined’ which is anchored on three main pillars to tackle the issues namely, Job creation and skills development to tackle youth unemployment/hopelessness, improved access to health and education and strong representation and advocacy.
He has chosen the Eagle as his symbol – representing strength, vision, focus and commitment to bring improvement to the lives of the people of Subin.
He said his father was a strong believer in the principles and traditions of the Danquah/Busia/Dombo fraternity, for which he named him after Joseph Boakye Danquah and believed the people of Subin will act in the interest of their community and the future generations and vote for him and disprove the claim that it is impossible for an independent candidate to win in Subin.
He explained that Subin may be a stronghold of the NPP, but the party does not have a stranglehold on the electorate and that the people are free to elect whoever they deem fit and will help them to realize their aspirations.
He said people vote for persons to control the destiny of the nation, for which reason it is not good enough to vote for a candidate just because the candidate belongs to a particular party.
According to him, he registered as a member of the party in 1997 and contested the NPP primaries alongside Isaac Osei, Eugene Antwi and others in 2015, but his agonies with the party began in 2020, when attempts to pick a nomination form was rebuffed by the region, in collaboration with the constituency, because for more than three weeks the party refused to allow him to pick a nomination form.
The frustration in 2020 was even worse, hence the decision to go solo this time. “I am therefore declaring to the good people of Subin and Ghana that I will be running to become a Member of Parliament for Subin constituency in December 2024 as an independent candidate”, he announced.
By the declaration, J.B. Danquah promises to give the good people of Subin “a better alternative and an opportunity to vote for someone who shares your values and principles but is not a product of a corrupt system”.
He said he will not stand aloof and watch politicians perpetrate fraud and arrogance of power on the people but I will stand up and fight for the principles that he believes in and fight for the well-being of the community, no matter the cost to his personal life, so long as it is for the betterment of the community and the country at large.
The parliamentary hopeful has, therefore, advised that it is the responsibility of voters and constituents to vet the candidate to determine if the candidate has what it takes to lead and called on the constituents to vote for him as their leader to defend their interests against all odds and preserve the sanctity of the society.
