Mac Manu decries money bag politics

THE ASPIRING National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and immediate past Western Regional Chairman of the party, Mr. Peter Mac Manu, has stated that the NPP does not need any “Bill Gates,” but people with skills, to steer the affairs of the party towards 2008 general elections.

“I think that I have said every now and again that no one person can bankroll the NPP and if Steve Ntim is Bill Gates, I tell you, even in America, Hawardine, the chairman of the Democratic Party says he needed an army of small donors to fund and sustain his party, how much more Ghana. So Mac Manu is saying that what is needed is not Bill-Gates but skills in fund raising of which he has.”

Mr. Mac Manu, who is determined to dethrone the current national chairman of the party, Mr. Haruna Esseku, made this assertion when the Chronicle spoke with him during the Greater Accra Regional delegates conference of the NPP.

In response to a question on why his boss and contender was always praising him, he said, “I admire his words but he should not make me swollen-headed. So I will continue to work hard in spite of good things he is saying about me. I take it in good faith but I will still continue to work until the last day when the elections are held.”

The aspiring national chairman, who rubbished the attacks on the party structures by some aspirants and noted that there was the need to build upon them, called upon proper diagnoses of the party's problems.

According to him, the main reason why he would advocate an improvement on the research department of the party was that elections were lost in certain constituencies, as a result of inadequate research about the candidates presented.

He said in certain areas when the party was about to present the candidates to the Electoral Commission, they were pulled out of the race, leaving the party in the cold.

To this end, he said, “In any human institutions, diagnosing challenges and problems must be ongoing so that they we don't hijack problems that cannot be tackled.”

Responding to whether he was scared of Mr. Steve Ayensu Ntim, one of the strongest contenders, apart from Mr. Esseku, as he was reported to have backings from the Castle, Mr. Mac-Manu stated otherwise.

“I am not scared of anybody. I am not a coward and in any election, one needs to be brave and courageous.”

On what he would do better under his chairmanship, he had this to say, “I keep saying that chairmanship of the party, and secretary or women organizer of the party, does not confer monopoly of wisdom on any individual. So I will in addition to my own God- given talent and wisdom and skills that I have, would also invite professionals and volunteers to come in and help solve the problems that I lack the necessary skills. If you look at people mediating in conflict resolutions, I think there are skillful members who I can invite to come and help solve some of the problems amicably.”

Mac emphasised, “ I am not power hungry because I am not coming to take up the leadership of the party and turn myself and knight myself and become Mac Manu chair. I will be a chairman who is going to ensure that the NPP wins in 2008. So in my chairmanship is very much informed because I want the NPP to get to power in 2008.”

Mr. Mac Manu who said he was well tested, tried and proven said, people in the Western Region would remember him for his skillfulness. “I wish you were there the last day I was delivering my handing over. Every single applicant or contestant would mention Mac Manu as a point of reference. I mean it was flowing like that. Every individual that came up to speak on the election day would use Mac Manu as reference point,” he told this paper.