The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has called for hard work and more discipline among followers of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to enhance the chances of the party winning the 2024 general elections.
He observed that 2024 would be very decisive whether the NPP would win or not, “but the more discipline there is among us, the more unity among us, the better of our conduct, so is the better of our chances of 2024.”
“There would be competition, but the competition should help the party and not to hinder it so that we can break the eight,” he indicated.
He was speaking at the 2021 National Annual Delegates Conference of the party at the Heroes Park in Kumasi, on Sunday, December 19, 2021.
The Conference, under the theme,”Our Resolve, Our Determination and Commitment to Ghana’s Development,” was preceded by a church service of which the sermon was delivered by Bishop Christopher NyarkoAndam,immediate past Kumasi Diocesan Bishop of the Methodist Church.
According to the President, government would not throw its hands in despair in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, “but we are determined to bring about a stronger economy, progress and prosperity to the people of Ghana. That is what is on the table.”
The President noted that the government had spent more money on education, health, agriculture, industry, infrastructure, particularly on roads, more than any government in the fourth republic.”
“So, as you leave here, go with your shoulders and heads high in the sky that you belong to a party that has produced a government that is diligent about the welfare of the people to bring about economic transformation.”
Stressing that he was desirous too to break the eight, he said, “I want to hand over to the next NPP presidential candidate on January 7, 2025; we are breaking the eight not for NPP but for Ghana.”
The President mentioned how important it would be for the NPP to get a candidate who would unify the party for a thorough victory in 2024.
“2024 is for us to win, but we should conduct ourselves well,” he emphasised.
The Vice President also called on party faithful to unite, as the government takes decisive steps to get the country out of the effects of COVID-19, which has ravaged economies around the world.
Earlier, Vice President, DrMahamuduBawumia, highlighted challenges the Akufo-Addo government inherited from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and how the government had taken steps to address some of the challenges to reduce sufferings of Ghanaians.
He also touched on unity among the party faithful to enable the breaking of the eight.
“We will break the eight, but our success depends on unity,” he said, adding “our record is superior to break the eight.”
He pointed out that changes that were being made were historical, “ours is a government that is thinking outside the box.”
Dr Bawumia mentioned mobile money interoperability and other digital policies being the first time ever in the country under the NPP government and that e- pharmacy, also the first in the country would be launched (in this week).
There were fraternity messages from other political parties such as the Convention People’s Party(CPP), Progressive People’s Party(PPP),People’s National Convention (PNC), National Democratic Congress (NDC), as well as an official from the Malawi Congress Party.
The two-day congress was aimed at amendments of the party’s constitution.
There were 120 proposals which were consolidated into 91 which were tabled for possible amendments to the party’s constitution.
Key among the 91 was a proposal to elect a presidential candidate two clear years before a major election.
Currently, the party elects a candidate two years before elections if the party is in opposition and a year when the party is in power.
Party members believe the current arrangement makes it difficult for a new candidate to mend bridges and heal the wounds of other aspirants before the election.
However, the Conference gave its consent to the review committee to keenly look into the proposals to see which ones matter most and to submit them to the national council for adoption.
This was due to the fact that there was not enough time to go through all the 91 proposals during the conference.
The revised constitution is supposed to pave way for internal primaries to be held at the various levels of the party to renew the mandate of serving party executives or elect new ones.
FROM KINGSLEY E.HOPE, KUMASI
