The Western Regional Youth Wing of the largest opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has embarked on phase two of its retail campaign ahead of the December 7 elections.
The objective of this retail campaign, the team noted, is to win first-time voters and make undecided electorates choose the NDC as the best alternative party during the polls.
The campaign, dubbed "An Evening Encounter with Electorates," commenced on Tuesday, November 19, 2024, in the Shama Constituency.
Aside from the Shama Constituency, all orphan constituencies in the Western Region will be covered by the campaign team led by the Western Regional Youth Organiser, Alhaji Mustapha Iddrisu.
Speaking in an interview with journalists, the commander of the youth wing explained that the purpose of the retail campaign is to acknowledge the vital role of first-time voters in the scheme of affairs during the national electoral exercise and to establish contact with many of the electorates who appear undecided ahead of the crucial December polls.
"We want to improve the electoral fortunes of the party in the Western Region, and the only way the party can do that is to prudently deploy the youth to areas considered as the red zones, to inspire the electorates to vote massively for our party," he said.
According to the NDC Regional Youth Organiser, although there is a general call for a change of government in the country, which has become essential following the display of abysmal performance by the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), the youth wing of the party will not rest and rely on the wind of change blowing across the country. Instead, they will intensify their activities through the retail campaign, which is considered necessarily important to woo voters.
He said, "We are doing this retail campaign with a different mindset while departing strategically from the usual norm of converging at one spot to address the electorates.
"We know we are winning the elections, but our margin of victory must be unprecedented and historically recorded in our democratic dispensation."
Explaining the primary focus of the youth wing in achieving this herculean task, he said, "We want to win most of the orphan constituencies in our region and successfully break the monopoly of the NPP in the urban and peri-urban areas in our region, and yes, we can do it."
Consequently, Alhaji Mustapha Iddrisu charged the various youth working committee members to pay detailed attention to the ultimate goal of the youth wing and work according to plans and instructions.
"I have charged the various committees under the youth wing, deployed across the nook and cranny of our region, to ensure that they do effective campaigning while ensuring that truly, they are applying the retail module to catch the attention of first-time voters and, as many as possible, those who fall within the undecided bracket.
We must widen the NDC victory gap while using the youth wing as the springboard."
In terms of separation of powers within the party and the role expected of all departments, he said, "We are, internally, the army of the party, and as the commander of this strong army in the region, I have the conviction that my team and I will deliver victory to our party.
"But, since the work will require all hands on deck, we have tasked all the key stakeholders involved to ensure that they deliver their mandate, so we can secure the expected outcome after the December elections."
The party, according to the Regional Youth Organiser, will not abandon the youth when victory is secured and, therefore, their contribution must be felt at the polls, hence "the all-out campaign" deployed regionally and across orphan constituencies.
Sekondi, Takoradi, Effia, Essikado-Ketan, Kwesimintsim, Ahanta West, Shama, and Tarkwa Nsuaem constituencies are the orphan constituencies of the NDC.
These seats are currently being occupied by the NPP.
But, the NDC Youth Organiser says the tables will turn after the December elections, considering the work the party has done.
"It will shock our opponents. They will smell and experience an unbelievable defeat ever suffered.
"They may not believe their eyes, seeing the seats we are going to snatch from them after winning the region, considering the work we are doing, and the modus operandi being applied. We are convinced and certainly sure of achieving our target," he concluded.