Joe Ghartey Joins Nana, For NPP Battle

A former New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential hopeful, Joe Ghartey, yesterday added a fresh flavour to Nana Akufo-Addo's campaign tour of the Western Region when he joined the aspiring NPP flagbearer and Dr Mahumudu Bawumia in Tarkwa in the Western Region.

Also in Tarkwa to support Nana Addo's campaign was Kofi Osei-Ameyaw, MP for Asuogyaman, who stepped down for the NPP front runner earlier.

Joe Ghartey and Osei Ameyaw are now vigorously campaigning for Nana Addo.

The two were part of the five candidates shortlisted for the main contest of the party's flagbearership position on October 18; but withdrew from the race to lend their support to Nana Addo.

It was therefore all joy at Tarkwa yesterday when Joe Ghartey and Osei Ameyaw joined Nana Akufo-Addo on his 'thank you tour' of the region.

There was a thunderous applause by the delegates when they saw Joe Ghartey and Osei-Ameyaw joining Nana Addo's campaign train.

The two urged the delegates to vote massively for Nana Addo on October 18, so he would lead the party to victory in the 2016 general elections.

They pointed out that Ghanaians were yearning to see Nana Addo become the flagbearer and subsequently the President of Ghana, to help deliver the nation from the current economic hardship.

Joe Ghartey's appearance in Tarkwa was an important impetus for Nana Addo's campaign and the 2012 NPP flagbearer received him wholeheartedly.

It was an opportunity for Nana Akufo-Addo to make good his promise of working with everybody—a pledge which he made earlier when Kofi Osei-Ameyaw threw in the towel and also joined him to prosecute the Agenda 2016 Project of the NPP.

Joe Ghartey, the second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, is not new to Nana Akufo-Addo, having worked in the latter's law firm, Akufo-Addo, Prempeh & Co, for seven years, and leaving to co-found his own law chambers, Ghartey & Ghartey, in 1994.

He was the Senior Partner at Ghartey & Ghartey Company (Barristers & Solicitors) before he became the MP for Essikado constituency in the Western Region.

His decision to bow out of the race was borne out of the overwhelming support Nana Akufo-Addo received during the NPP Super Delegates' Congress.

Nana Akufo Addo
His loyalty to the campaign process of Nana is not in doubt, as could be gleaned from the following expression which he uttered immediately after his pull-out from the contest: “With the kind of results I witnessed yesterday at the special congress, I think it is only wise to withdraw from the race and rally support for Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for the third time,” Joe Ghartey stated.

The results posted from the Super Delegates' Congress had Nana Akufo-Addo securing 598 votes, representing 80.78%; with his closest contender, Alan Kyerematen, garnering 59 votes.

Joe Ghartey and Osei Ameyaw would no doubt be permanent features of the Nana Akufo-Addo campaign—a critical impetus for party unity, which many had expressed apprehension about.

Both personalities were expected to stay with the campaign train as it moves to the Central Region.

Nana Addo thanked the delegates in the Western Region for voting overwhelmingly for him during the party's special congress.

He pleaded with them to vote massively for him again on October 18, in the flagbearership contest with Alan Kyerematen and Francis Addai-Nimoh.

He was very optimistic that the NPP would win the 2016 general elections and asked the party members to unite to achieve that goal.

Nketsiah Dickson, the Western Regional Chairman of the NPP, welcoming Nana Addo and his entourage, pledged that the NPP would work hard to recapture all the seats it lost in the 2012 elections.

Also joining Nana Addo on his 'thank you tour' were Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and Kennedy Agyapong, the Assin Central MP.

From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi