Foot-soldiers cry for party unity

THE NEW Patriotic Party (NPP) grass root campaigners, otherwise known as Foot soldiers in the Ashanti Region, have added their voice to the numerous calls on the former President, Mr. John Agyekum Kufuor to intervene in the growing factionalism in the party, bordering on the personalities of Nana Akuffo-Addo and Alan Kyerematen and their supporters.

The NPP foot soldiers are of the view that the former President, being the first person to have led the NPP to power, possesses the requisite skills and experience to bring peace and order in the party.

A number of appeals have already been made by some leading party figures, including a founding member of the party in the Ashanti Region, Mr. George Ayisi-Boateng and the immediate past Ghanaian envoy to Serbia and Montenegro, Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe, on the ex-President to calm the storm being caused by the two leading personalities in the opposition party.

The latest outfit to join the fray is the Association of NPP Foot soldiers in the Ashanti Region, who have launched a passionate appeal to Mr. J.A Kufuor to bring his rich political experience to bear on the unity of the party.

Speaking to The Chronicle in an interview, the Ashanti Regional coordinator of the NPP Foot soldiers, Mr. Baffour Asare, stated that their grass root interactions have revealed that supporters of the party are not happy with the development and want the issues to be quickly resolved.   

According to him, even though voters in the country are already disillusioned about the performance of the government of the NDC, most of them are skeptical about the NPP's readiness to come back to power, considering the increasing internal wrangling within the party. “Everywhere you go people are saying that the NDC government has disappointed them; but they are not equally sure about the eagerness of the NPP to regain power in 2012,” he noted.

Mr. Asare lamented that efforts of party foot soldiers at the grass root levels, in terms of mopping up support for the party would be in vain if executives at the national level continue to engage in actions which have the propensity to cause division in the party.

He said party foot soldiers in the region since the 2008 general elections, had never rested on their oars, but had been working hard to bring together all disgruntled supporters of the party so that “the party can win back power in 2012.”

Mr. Asare observed that the utterances and actions of leading supporters of the two personalities in the party on radio and the newspapers have not promoted unity within the party, cautioning that “the earlier the former President stepped in, the better it would be for the chances of the party in the next general elections”.

He said he had absolute confidence in the former President to bring sanity into the party, adding that Mr. Kufuor should assume the role of “the father of the party.”

Suggesting the approach towards ensuring ceasefire on the effusions within the party, Mr. Asare noted that the former President should call Nana Akuffo-Addo and Alan Kyerematen to a roundtable discussion and compel them to publicly denounce the perceived factionalism and issue directives to all supporters of the party to desist from aligning themselves to personalities within the party.

The Co-ordinator also commended the newly elected Regional Chairman, Mr. F. F Antoh, on his directives to ban all regional executives from following any presidential aspirant on his campaign trail, describing the decision as a step in the right direction.

Mr. Asare also stressed that the foot soldiers would continue to play a neutral role and desist from openly declaring support for any aspirant until a presidential candidate is elected by the party.