Take the Money, but DON’T SWEAR!
Delegates of the New Patriotic Party who would be voting at the December congress to elect a flagbearer have been cautioned to resist attempts by any of the candidates to coerce them to swear to any god after promising to vote for the candidate.

Party officers at all levels including MPs, DCEs, are also to refrain from openly supporting any of the presidential candidates. This was contained in the code of ethics approved by the National Executive Council, the second highest organ of the party to guide the campaign activities towards the party's presidential race. The document is being circulated throughout the constituencies in the country.

Mr. Peter Mac Manu, the National Chairman of NPP who made this known at a training workshop at Bolgatanga recently cautioned that the party would sanction anyone found to have flouted the Code of ethics.

The Chronicle reports Mac Manu as saying that he had been informed that monies were going round and "if you take it they ask you to swear". He warned that punitive sanctions would be applied if one were caught doing that. He maintained that the party would do all that it could to ensure that its internal democratic principles were protected and promoted at all times.

The national chairman noted that the NPP as a political institution had a bigger stake in ensuring that Ghana's democratic dispensation was protected and strengthened.

"It is our duty as party activists to strengthen and protect this multi party democracy", he added.

Touching on the essence of the workshop, Mac Manu explained that the training workshop was to intensify and improve the core executives approach to leadership at regional and constituency levels and also urge members to come to terms with the philosophical and ideologi¬cal underpinning of the party.

The training workshop, according to him, would also equip the party leadership at both regional and constituency levels with the appropriate skills in leadership, information management and communication.
He said among some of the things to focus were the review of the results of the past three general elections and compare notes and cross-fertilize ideas as they developed contemporary strategies and a blue print of the party towards overwhelmingly winning the 2008 general elections in Upper East Region.

The workshop provided a platform for detailed deliberation between the party and the government, the minister and his deputy, the MCEs and DCEs to identify challenges and to reduce conflicts.

At the end of the workshop, it was expected the party's constitution, ideology and philosophy would be well entrenched among members and the leadership of the party in the region. Regional and constituency leadership style would be well defined and minimized.

"We also expect that administrative and organizational capacities of the officers of the party at the regional, constituency and polling station levels will be well strengthened and also improve the morale and confidence level of the party leadership to enable them discharge their duties timely and appropriately".

According to Mac Manu, the party could not win any elections in the country without the active participation of the youth and women because they formed the bulk of the registered voters in the country.

He said the government had come up with so many interventions such as capitation grant, school feeding programme and youth employment programme and that those interventions could be used to attract youth and women to the party.

"Our philosophy and values are freedom of press, granting individual's freedom, rule of law, due process, good governance, the right to own property and assist the poor and needy in society to stand on his feet.”