Unity For Victory ….A must for the NPP

Our party might have lost the 2008 December elections by a tapered margin , but the fact still remains that we are the biggest political party in our country today, going by the Electoral Commission's

Though the NPP pulled the highest number of votes in the first round of the December elections, a second round was indispensable because the numbers that we pulled was slightly short of the constitutional provision for a first round victory

The fact that some votes as we are supposed to believe trickled in from the other smaller parties to add on to the NDC votes to bring them their slim and marginal victory is confirmation enough that the NDC on its own has not got the numbers to win an election.

Post election events have also confirmed that the popular choice of the people has been denied them by some means

 I heard about a certain jargon that the people of the Central region have coined after voting for one of their own, the "www' jargon: 'Wawiemu Wawin Wakadem" which literally means stolen [the election], won but still indoors

Nana Akufo-Addo's thank you tour, the reception his party gave him at the Kotoka International Airport upon arrival from his vacation, the regrets that I sense in the comments of the people and the president busily working himself to tell everybody that he is the only president of Ghana, gives me good reason to know that the NPP is still formidable.

Unfortunately for us, certain energies have been misdirected in the past few days and we need to restrain them once and for all. Abraham Lincoln once said to Americans: 'we are not enemies but friends … though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection'. Our party operates with a constitution and we have since our formation upheld and protected it.

Article 12,7 of our constitution outlines clearly the procedures involved in the election of our party's presidential candidate and as it is my understanding sometime next year a National Delegates Congress will be convened to elect a flag bearer for our party and then a national campaign can commence.

We have demonstrated consistently in the past our respect for our constitution and I am confident that one more time due process will be followed.

Coming events they say cast their shadows and the Mills administration has given clear indication of how incapable they are of handling the great tasks ahead.

If the dreams and hopes of Ghanaians can be brought back to life, if our economy can regain its strength, if the people can one more time walk on our streets feeling secure, if the Ghanaian can once again have a lower cost of living and be convinced that our country is for us all and not for just members of a particular party, and if infrastructural development can be seen in our country again, the NPP must first of all come back to power and everything we do in the next couple of years should be with this as our number one priority.

Our party is bigger than any single individual's ambition; we don't need to be reminded of this. Our party has demonstrated consistently that it rewards service and hard work, sacrifice and loyalty and as a young man I always wake up with the hope that one day my party will recognise my service and sacrifice.

Past events and the errors that accompanied them must be used as a learning process to effect solutions and not be referenced for the purposes of apportioning blame. What went wrong in the past must guide us to do what is right in the future.

Let us spend three minutes of ten, talking about what went wrong and the remaining seven spent on what the way forward is and how to get there. We have a battle to fight, not with ourselves but with our opponents and if we start the battle amongst ourselves before going to face our enemies, then I can assure all our party members of a continued stay in opposition at least for another four year term.

Let us resolve our differences amongst ourselves quietly and let us stay focused for the task ahead. Nana Akufo-Addo has said that he is not ready to lead a divided party and that we need to calm nerves down and think about a winning strategy, and I believe that is the way to go.

Nana Addo couldn't have demonstrated leadership in a better way and I urge all the leaders of our party to emulate his example and remain committed to the cause of an unwavering and steadfast 2012 victory. I plead with the rank and file, the people who hold our party, to remain in high spirits and support whoever is elected as our flag bearer.

The task ahead requires a strong and united house and I am optimistic now than never before that WE SHALL BE BACK (to borrow the words of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo).

The author works with The Danquah Institute