Cash and carry doesn’t promote democracy – NPP chairman

The Volta Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Kenwuud Nuworsu, has decried the 'cash and carry' phenomenon gradually creeping into the party, saying it does not promote internal democracy.

Mr Nuworsu, who made the statement against the backdrop of allegations to the effect that some presidential aspirants were wooing delegates with cash, said the practice must be quickly nipped in the bud since it tended to undermine democracy.

"If as a government, we have been able to do away with the cash and carry system, then we must be able to do away with it in the party," he admonished.

He was delivering an address at a three-day capacity building workshop for party functionaries drawn from the Volta Region at Ho.

Mr Nuworsu reminded the participants that they must not forget too soon how far they had come and that "when this is lost on us, then we don't have a future".

He debunked the assertions by certain individuals and groups that the number of presidential aspirants in the party was too many and that it was going to divide the party and said so far they had been able to manage it effectively.

The number of aspirants, he said, had rather succeeded in distributing the power points to the party and that there was no one who could now lay claim to be the most popular in the party.

"We must even encourage more people to join," he suggested.

He attributed the failure of the party to achieve its set targets in the Volta Region in the last elections to the self-defeating strategies that predisposed the fortunes of the party to defeat and not because of the overwhelming strength of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Mr Nuworsu said in 2004, the NPP identified a number of constituencies that would fall to the NPP and made a public announcement of it but did little to protect those constituencies.

The NDC, he recounted, then descended heavily on those constituencies and succeeded in out maneuvering the NPP, stressing that this time round they had reviewed their strategies and would not repeat that mistake.

The NPP, he said, had become more vibrant, visible and popular in the region more than the NDC.

"Applications for membership cards now far outnumber the cards that are available and party functionaries are well motivated, besides the NPP has a well organised party structure.

Touching on the theme for the workshop: "Consolidating our Gains", the General Secretary of the party, Nana Ohene Ntow, said the NPP had both political and economic gains to consolidate that were big objectives which they must achieve.

He said, over the years, the NPP had made steady gains by taking a nation with a tattered economy and turning it around to make Ghana the best place to invest in today.

He said the workshop was geared towards laying a strong foundation for the party to re-capture power in 2008.

"We want to send a message to all members of the party and beyond that we are not taking anything for granted, Even though we are so sure we will win, we are not resting on our laurels."

The NPP, he said, was repositioning itself for victory in 2008 and when this was achieved it should not come as a surprise to anybody.
"We are going to work hard at the challenge of holding on to power for a third consecutive time", he stressed.

For his part, the National Chairman of the NPP, Mr Peter Mac Manu, said the NPP believed in the ideals and practice of true democracy as, against the opposition NDC which believed in violence and came to power through chaos and confusion.

He said as long as democracy thrived in the country, the NPP would continue to stay in power.

He asked Ghanaians to be wary of the NDC who ware desperately trying to sow seeds of confusion in the country. "They must be disregarded," he stressed.

Mr Manu said that elections were won at the polling station level “and so we must strengthen polling station structures and develop strong relationships with our foot soldiers and let them bring politics to the doorsteps of the people."

He charged the party members to let their speech and conduct reflect the positive image of the government and party, adding that “we need to adopt a positive approach to solving problems and avoiding self-destructive tendencies."

Source: Daily Graphic