Effah Dartey to upstage aspirants

As the race to the Castle hastens up each passing day, The Independent can authoritatively reveal that the former Deputy Minister for the Interior, Captain (Rtd) Nkrabeah Effah Dartey, who many political pundits never thought of joining the race, is set to cause panic and upstage other aspirants who have already announced their candidature for the flagbearership of the New Patriotic Party for the 2008 elections.

Sources reveal that the former deputy minister has advanced his plans to officially announce his candidature to join the NPP's presidential fray come December 2007 at the party's congress at a venue yet to be fixed.

Sources close to Captain Effah Dartey say, his declaration, the hint of which some NPP activists are privy to, has already caused a stir among some aspirants who are known to be working feverishly to win the slot to lead the NPP in the 2008 elections.

Sources say indications are that the Jinjini- born Member of Parliament for Berekum and retired infantry officer Captain Effah Dartey is already adding finishing touches to what has been elaborated and is feverishly preparing to join the race.

Painstaking investigations by the Independent show that the famous Accra- based lawyer who gained international reputation for defending Sierra- Leone rebel leader., Foday Sankoh, has under his sleeves aces he is yet to reveal in his reach for the presidential slot.

Already, The Independent can reveal that a Captain's Campaign Committee (CACACO) has been established and they meet regularly ay their campaign headquarters at Nyaniba Estate at Osu.

Educated at the prestigious Achimota School, Effah Dartey studied law at the University of Ghana and was trained as an army officer at Sandhurst in the United Kingdom.

The Berekum MP took part in June 4th served as an aide-de-camp (ADC) to the then Army Commander and as well saw action in Lebanon. He was imprisoned twice under the late President Hilla Liman's defunct People's National Party and under former President Rawlings' regime of the erstwhile Provisional National Defence Council.

The former military captain also served for ten years as a lawyer on the staff of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation and served as an Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Retailers Association.