NPP chairman calls for halt to celebrating congress success

The Bantama Constituency Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr H.K. Kokofu, has called on members of the party to end the celebration of the election of Nana Akufo-Addo as the flag bearer of the party to settle down to the serious business of organising towards the 2008 general election.

With the greatest ever optimism of overrunning the opposition, he said the party could not afford to swim in endless celebration over the election of Nana Akufo-Addo, whilst the more important business of swinging into effective campaigning remained unattended to.

"The election of Nana Akufo-Addo as the flag bearer of the party was the first step in the battle to give the NDC a sound thrashing in the 2008 elections and to ensure that the NPP hands over power to NPP in January 2009 to facilitate the effective and efficient management of the economy," he said.

In an interview with the Daily Graphic in Kumasi, Mr Kokofu said the December 22 congress belonged to history and the new focus was how to hand down the NDC its greatest ever defeat in 2008.

Mr Kokofu stated that the December 22 congress produced two great leaders, Nana Akufo-Addo for the present, and Mr. Alan Kyerematen for the future.

The constituency chairman indicated that the Danquah-Busia tradition had the history of producing such leaders and cited 1998 when at the Sunyani congress, Mr J.A. Kufuor was elected as flag bearer while Nana Akufo-Addo who proved a tough customer in the campaign period, came second in the congress.

"Today, Nana Akufo-Addo is on his way to becoming President of Ghana after serving effectively in the Kufuor government," he said.

Mr Kokofu said, "It will be good to see Alan become a key member of an Akufo-Addo government as it happened with Nana under the Kufuor regime so that he will be groomed to become the next leader after Nana."

He said by conceding victory to Nana Akufo-Addo when all the opportunities existed for him to go for the re-run at the congress, Mr Kyerematen exhibited high political maturity.

He was also full of praise for the new flag bearer for his sense of maturity when he said he would reach out to all the defeated aspirants to ensure an effective campaign.

Above all, the constituency chairman commended President Kufuor for the encouraging words he gave at the congress, saying it showed that, "for us in the NPP, the congress is a clear testimony that the party won the day".

Mr Kokofu challenged the foot soldiers to rekindle the spirit that saw the party winning the last two elections "because elections are about numbers".