Mr Stephen Asamoah Boateng (Asabee) addressing participants
Mr Stephen Asamoah Boateng, a would-be contender in the NPP national chairmanship race, has attributed the huge following of the party, since its birth, largely to the vibrancy of its youth wings.
The NPP chairman hopeful made the observation while addressing party members as well as other participants of last Saturday’s Youth Forum of the NPP-UK youth wing in London.
Mr Asamoah Boateng said the youth had always driven the movement for change in Ghana and for the development of the country.
He explained that before the return of Ghana to constitutional rule in 1992, the UP tradition, which grew into the NPP, relied heavily on its youthful elements like himself, Dan Botwe, Michael Ansah, Kwaku Ampratwum Sarpong and others to pile up pressure on the Rawlings-led PNDC to allow for multi-party democracy.
Efforts
According to him, had it not been the efforts of the youth of Ghana, especially those who worked for the NPP in the shape of TESCON and other youthful affiliates, the NPP would not have won the 2000 elections and subsequent ones.
He noted that the NPP had done well by ensuring the creation and strengthening of its tertiary branches in the universities and polytechnics as well as colleges of education across the country.
TESCON and the youth wings, he noted, had served their purpose well so far. He therefore urged the UK youth branch to sustain the same level of enthusiasm in supporting the party.
Mr Asamoah Boateng also said the tenacity and undying spirit of TESCON and the youth wing of the party stood the test of time in the 2000 general elections “when, as polling agents, they were even rounded up, beaten and detained at the Ho Mortar Regiment.”
Despite this setback, he indicated, when they were dispatched to Accra in an effort to prevent them from their roles as agents, they still insisted on going back to battle the NDC in their own backyard.
“I hereby call on the UK branch to imbibe in itself the values and ideals that have made the NPP youth wings, including TESCON, very vibrant,” he said.
Commitment
He also expressed his commitment to ensuring that the youth wings of the party are resourced adequately and appropriately to respond to their duties when he wins the upcoming national chairmanship position.
He pledged that, if given the nod as a national chairman, he will ensure the party’s structures are re-ignited to enable constituency, regional and national officers play proactive roles in strengthening the party to deliver hope to the rank and file, and to motivate them in their service to God and country.
“The NPP is youth-centred party that believes in hard work. As national chairman, I will expend great effort to find resources to keep it even more vibrant and functional to respond to the needs of its members as well as the Ghanaian youth in general,” he stated.
He further called on them to work together to the building of a united party which will aim at building consensus whenever possible in resolving contentious issues.
“Let us remember we are a united party and it is crucial to remain united in order to defeat our political opponents in the 2024 general elections,” he added.
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