General News of Thursday, 6 April 2017

Source: theheraldghana.com

NDC needs a fighter to win 2020 election - Former Deputy Minister

Emmanuel Agyekum, former Deputy Minister for Local Government and Rural Development Emmanuel Agyekum, former Deputy Minister for Local Government and Rural Development

A former Deputy Minister for Local Government and Rural Development in the out- gone National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration, Emmanuel Agyekum, has reminded the rank and file of the party that, the NDC needs a fighter and a resilient leader to be able to beat the governing New Patriotic Party in the 2020 general elections.

He said, even though it is dawning on Ghanaians that they made a wrong choice in the 2016 elections; it will take a leader with the collective fighting spirit to beat the NPP.

The NDC can only beat the NPP collectively, not by throwing allegations and mud at the leadership of the party when a committee headed by Dr Kwesi Botchwey, has been set up to look into what accounted for the party’s loss in the 2016 elections.

The Deputy Minister, who recently got his house ransacked by some elements of the governing NPP under the pretext of looking for state vehicles, made this comment when he addressed members of Crossfire, a group sympathetic to the NDC at their annual get-together over the week end in Accra.

According to him, only three months into the administration of the NPP led by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, there are indications that, things are not moving on well with the selection of the 110 ministers.

“Knowing the NPP and how they operate they have not finished with the appointments at the Flag Staff House and special assists for the various Ministers”.

He indicated that, as it stand now Ministers like Inner Cities and Zongo Development, Minister for National Development Planning among others, have no Deputies.

In attendance was Dr Francis Dakora, Member of Parliament (MP) for Jirapa in the Upper East region, Rasheed Issa, the parliamentary candidate for Okaikoi Central among others.

“If have to beat the NPP we have to beat them collectively so stop the infighting and put your shoulders to the wheel for the reorganization of the party for 2020”, he said.

He maintained that, the NDC was robbed in the last elections and that so many things went wrong, which will be addressed by the committee.

Barimah Otumfour, Convener of the Crossfire, in delivering his purpose of the gathering said ,many of the party supporters thought it was simple in beating the NPP, but God knows why the party lost the last elections.

But we believe in perseverance, hence the reason to gather and know each other and forge ahead into the 2020 elections.

He urged members to move to their various branches and work for the reorganization of the party structures after the painful defeat.

On his part, the former Minister for Youth and Sports, Resheed Pelpuo, said the pain in opposition was serious and the desire to come back to power was so huge particularly among the youth, because of what the NPP is exhibiting after voting for them.

We may be down, but not out, he told the teeming supporters of the party at the gathering.

He said, the party was diagnosing the situation and would find a road map for the 2020 elections as the NDC has a good future ahead of it.