President Nana Akufo-Addo at the annual national delegates conference
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo yesterday stressed the need for members of the New Patriotic Party to remain united, as the party works to break the eight-year power cycle.
The President particularly cautioned members of his party against indulging in unhealthy internal competitions that have the potential to undermine unity ahead of the next general election.
“We cannot avoid competition. Competition, there will be, but let that competition help the party and not hinder the party so that we can break the eight in 2024,” the President said yesterday at the annual national delegates’ conference of the NPP in Kumasi.
He said internal competition should not divide the party, but rather strengthen and unite it in the lead up to the election of a presidential candidate for the 2024 presidential elections.
“The Ghanaian people are looking at us today, and they’ll be looking at us every step of the way until 2024. So the more discipline there is amongst us, the more unity there is amongst us, the better is our conduct, so are our chances of 2024,” he said.
According to President Akufo-Addo, breaking the eight-year power cycle will inure to the benefit of Ghanaians because it will help “sustain the economic growth” witnessed under his administration.
He said achieving this electoral feat is not out of the NPP’s reach, if all party members will rally behind whoever will be elected to lead the party in the 2024 elections.
“We will get a candidate that will unify us, and all of us will campaign to make that candidate the next President of the Republic in my shoes,” President Akufo-Addo added.
Not for ourselves
“We want to break the eight not just for ourselves, but for Ghana because we know the zigzag: NPP comes to clean for them to be polluted; this is not the way progress will be brought to our country. We need secure period in office to make that irreversible change in the fortunes of our nation, and we are capable of doing it,” Akufo-Addo said.
He added: “All the things that we have done in government are things we thought about while in opposition. What is the one policy that the NDC and their leader, John Mahama, have thought about in five years that they have been in opposition? There is not one policy; the answer is zero.
“We have spent more money in improving the circumstances of our people than any government in the Fourth Republic. So, when you leave here, be proud that you have produced a government that has been most diligent in improving the lives of the people than any other government in the history of this country.”
Covid management
The National Chairman of the NPP, Freddie Blay, said the Akufo-Addo government’s “competent management” of the economy saved Ghanaians from experiencing the worst effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We want to thank the President and his government for the way they have handled this pandemic. Although we are not still out of the woods, although things have not been as we want them to be since we assumed power in 2017, but for the good and competent management of the economy under Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the Vice-President and his team, Ghana would have seen worse days,” Mr Blay stated.
He also emphasized the need for members of the party to remain united ahead of the 2024 elections
“We have to stand united so that at the end of the four years, the people will vote for us or whoever represents us in the 2024 elections,” he added.
Connect with people
The party’s General Secretary, John Boadu, entreated government appointees and MPs to close the gap between them and the electorate
“There is absolutely no doubt that our victory in 2024, where we seek to break the eight years in government cycle, shall depend largely on the kind of relationship that exists between party and government,” he said.
According to him, “any gap in this relationship or disconnect between the party on one hand and the government on the other hand, shall be detrimental to our electoral fortunes.”
“People decide to vote for your opponent not because they like them but because they want to vote against you, because they feel you have neglected them and they want to punish you,” he said.
About The Author
