"Relative strengths were supposed to have been exhibited there, but to what effect? Some "front-liners" like Osafo Maafo and Professor Frimpong-Boateng arrived hardly unheralded; Nana Akufo-Addo was drowned out by local hero Hackman Owusu-Agyeman; the Vice President received a rousing welcome either because he is the incumbent No 2 man or a very popular choice; Dr. Apraku, Dr. Kwame Addo Kufuor, young Kwabena Agyepong, Mr. Boakye Agyarko, all had their cheerleaders, each obviously thinking they would be the next President of the Republic of Ghana. Which of them will it be? The coming weeks and months will tell "

This year's annual delegates' conference of the ruling New Patriotic Party (N.P.P) which took place at Eredec Hotel in Koforidua the Eastern Region capital and was rounded off last Sunday with a mammoth rally at the Jackson Park has succeeded in exposing the party's Achilles Heel: The lack of any succession strategy even as the party nears the end of its 2-term mandate.

The two-day event attended by party executives, founding members, delegates, party faithful and sympathizers across the length and breadth of the country and abroad, was meant to review the activities and operations of the party in the previous year and to strategize for the years ahead, but instead become a preening ground for its almost twenty presidential aspirants.

Unlike previous similar gatherings where party leaders separated themselves from the delegates, the 2007 NPP Koforidua conference saw party leaders including President Kufuor and Vice President Aliu Mahama sitting together with party delegates to brainstorm. It was a family meeting; there was no podium or high table for party "big shots".

NPP National Chairman Mr. Peter Mac Manu welcomed the development and challenged Ministers of State, Parliamentarians and District, Municipal and Metropolitan Chief Executives to emulate the President and sit together with the people to discuss developmental issues.

The former Senior Minister, Mr. J.H. Mensah, in an exposition of conference theme: "Moving Forward in Unity", called on members to remain focused and let unity and discipline be their watchwords, as "the NPP cannot afford fractious branches with lawsuits and Interim Management Committees flying all over the place".

Mr. Mensah, the Senior Prefect of the party in his usual straightforward manner took head-on the issue of the many NPP presidential hopefuls that have already declared their intentions to succeed President Kufuor and if in not so many words, but all the same conveyed to them the simple message: Cur out the crap! .

He regretted that some of the presidential hopefuls were blatantly disregarding the President's caution to them not to jump too early into the race for the presidency. Mr. J.H Mensah noted that some of the more ambitious presidential hopefuls have already embarked on hot campaigns that others felt compelled to match, all to the detriment of the party's image.

"For, what kind of a united team can the NPP present to this country when not only the eleven players on the field but also all the reserves on the bench want to be captain? Ghana needs a disciplined team under outstanding leadership to give us top-grade governance, not the chaos of twenty individual", he stated.

The former Minister reminded all the competitors that though the party's constitution says every member can and is entitled to present himself for candidature "but surely it does not say that everybody should present himself".

The President, whose lips everybody was watching shared similar thoughts with the former Senior Minister. He also commented on the conduct of the so-called aspirants and called on the delegates to, when the time comes, choose a person who is acceptable to a sizeable proportion of the citizenry, since parties alone do not elect a president.

President Kufuor's address catalogued successes achieved by the NPP government in the past few years including the prudent management of the economy, the development of road infrastructure, the National Health Insurance Scheme and the Youth Employment Programme. He called on members of the NPP to appreciate the party's contribution to the phenomenal transformation currently taking place in the country and not to give comfort to the opposition to carry on with its vile propaganda against the government.

President Kufuor, just after delivering his address, opened an interactive session where party representatives from each of the ten regions discussed with him issues of interest to them on their assessment of government's performance and what they think it should be considering in terms of priorities for governance.

It was an interactive conference, which according to the party's National Chairman Mr. Mac Manu, was "unprecedented in the NPP's history and as such should be maintained".

Apart from the presidential interactive session there was a ministerial presentation which featured the Ministers of Health, Agric, Education, Youth and Employment, on the performance of their various Ministries and the way forward.

The party's General Secretary Nana Ohene Ntow presented a broad overview of the operation and activities last year. It was followed by the presentation of the party's financial report by the National Treasurer and then the party chairman's address, which in all formed the basis for a plenary session on which resolutions were considered and adopted.

In a 21-point resolution, the delegates resolved among others, to work hard and safeguard the party's position as the ruling party and "not allow our personal ambitions to override the greater objectives of a unified party".

Even with this overarching resolution, many people left the conference and rally with only one thing in mind: Who leads the NPP in Election 2008?

Relative strengths were supposed to have been exhibited there, but to what effect?

Some "front-liners" like Osafo Maafo and Professor Frimpong-Boateng arrived hardly unheralded; Nana Akufo-Addo was drowned out by local hero Hackman Owusu-Agyeman; the Vice President received a rousing welcome either because he is the incumbent No 2 man or a very popular choice; Dr. Apraku, Dr. Kwame Addo Kufuor, young Kwabena Agyepong, Mr. Boakye Agyarko, all had their cheerleaders, each obviously thinking they would be the next President of the Republic of Ghana. Which of them will it be? The coming weeks and months will tell