EX-PRESIDENT John Agyekum Kufuor has for the first time spoken publicly against the perceived Nana Akufo Addo and Alan Kyerematen factions in the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Expressing utter shock at the emerging trend, the two-term President of Ghana urged the rank and file of the party to do away with factionalism.
Emphasizing the need for the party to shun the emerging tendency, ex-President Kufuor said the Danquah-Busia-Dombo tradition had never believed in personality cults.
Speaking at the party's national delegates' congress in Kumasi on Saturday, the former President said the tradition had always stuck to the practice of ensuring that stakeholders rallied round the tradition and worked assiduously for the progress of its ideals and not particular individuals.
Against this background, the second President of the country's Fourth Republic entreated the party members to reject any individual who would place his personal interests above those of the party.
“I urge you to reject any person in our party who will make himself a one-man thousand. Even if I do anything that suggests that I am making myself a one-man thousand, reject me,” ex-President Kufuor noted.
He indicated that the party's aspiration of unseating the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2012 elections would be a mirage if the situation was not arrested.
According to him, the perceived factionalism which created acrimony in certain quarters of the party, coupled with complacency, led to the party's defeat in the 2008 polls.
Ex-President Kufuor noted that had the party dealt decisively with complacency and disunity, which was caused by seeming factionalism, there was no way the party would have lost the elections.
“I can tell you that we did not deserve to lose the elections because of our good works, but we allowed power to slip from our hands so cheaply because we failed to act decisively,” he emphasized.
Urging the party to uphold the tenets of fair play and transparency in all of its activities, particularly during internal elections, ex-President Kufuor pledged to ensure that the party gets back power in 2012.
The immediate past President implored the party members to reach out to people in the other parties, stressing that what the NPP needed currently to wrestle power from the NDC was inclusion and not exclusion.
Though in his opinion the NPP was the largest political party in the country, he warned the rank and file of the party to guard against practices that would lead to decimation of the party's numbers.
He pointed out that never again should the party repeat its mistakes in the selection of parliamentary candidates as pertained in 2008, which saw aggrieved members of the party contesting the polls as independent candidates.
In the view of ex-President Kufuor, the high number of persons in the party who contested the 2008 parliamentary polls as independent candidates because of disagreements, cost the party dearly.
He contended that Ghanaians were wailing for the come-back of NPP because the Mills-led government had disappointed them in all aspects of governance.
Apart from the catalogue of failed promises, the 'gentle giant', as Kufuor is affectionately called, emphasised that the living standard of the ordinary Ghanaian had worsened in the past one year because of the untold hardship the NDC government had visited on Ghanaians.
Ex-President Kufuor stressed that the Prof Mills-led government was struggling because his erstwhile administration's excellent performance had raised the bar of governance high in the country.
He pointed out that the outstanding performance of the NPP government did not only quadruple the country's ailing economy but brought a lot of relief to Ghanaians by way of the introduction of pro-poor interventions.
Ex-President Kufuor mentioned some of the interventions as the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), the School Feeding Programme, and the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) among others.
He said Ghanaians would forever remember the NPP government for its commitment to the promotion of freedom of expression and respect for rule of law.
From Morgan Owusu, Joe Awuah & Ernest Kofi Adu, Kumasi
24-Hour Economy cannot succeed without data — GSS tells Parliament
Captain Smart declares bid for NDC parliamentary slot in Gomoa West
24-Hour Economy will promote prostitution – NPP Chairman warns government
US, Iran exchange airstrikes after Trump accuses Tehran of downing army helicopt...
BoG's $260 million building: It was Ato Forson who first proposed 'sell-and-leas...
'We have to do soul-searching' — Mahama orders nationwide flood assessment
Court orders woman beater to pay GHS5,000 compensation to midwife at Tema Commun...
Over 12,000 women living with obstetric fistula in Ghana — Asokwa MP
Mahama secures 1,840 farm equipment deal from Belarus
Titus Glover slams Mahama’s flood report directive, calls it “waste of energy an...
Comments
Hey, Kufuor, why the hypocrisy not. Is it because you could not have your way with expanded electyorates? You see, you took the people for fools, but they thought you that they are more intelligent than you and your cabal think. How could you have attempted to block the expansion of the electorates, and expected them to vote for you "boy". Your greediness and pettiness was the real cause of the defeat of NPP. So, shut up and give us a break, man!