The Diasporan branches of the New Patriotic Party have gathered in London for their first international conference in London. The first of its kind, the conference which runs for two days from Friday 16th to Saturday 17th March will highlight some of the political, social and economic achievements of the NPP government. The conference will also seek to bring all the international branches together to find strategies to help the party in Ghana win in the 2008 elections.

The conference brings together delegates from Ghana, Canada, the US, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy and other European countries and will be chaired by the national Chairman of the Party, Mr. Peter Macmanu

The theme for the conference will be to help the NPP as a party to build on President Kufuor’s legacy and to strengthen the NPP for leadership in Ghanaian politics in 2008 and beyond. The conference theme is formulated around NPP’s contribution towards national development over the medium to long term, and its overriding objective to build a free, just and prosperous society that will be a true beacon for Africa.

The conference objectives are threefold:

• To highlight and exploit the legacy of the Kufuor government in support of the future needs of our party

• To forge and reinforce closer workings of our network of international branches and NPP members in the Diaspora as part of our objective to build a strong party in Ghana;

• To establish structures for effective communication; and to work together to build a strong party with a shared vision for our nation such that all sections of the party can contribute effectively and meaningfully to the task of national development.

In a pre-conference briefing held at the London Landmark Hotel, on the eve of the conference, the Chairman of the host branch, the NPP UK, Mr Atta-Krufi hinted that the conference will explore all avenues to vigorously mobilise all available human and material recourses to ensure a massive and effective membership drive outside Ghana to make the party more formidable than ever, adding that there was the need to sensitise the overseas branches about issues affecting the party and the country as a whole.

Mr. Atta-Krufi said the Government under the leadership of President Kufuor has made great strides towards consolidating Ghana’s democratic and economic gains and it is these gains that the conference will seek to celebrate. He said “we can now look to the future with renewed hope and resolve to confront the challenges of our times. Therefore whilst the immediate focus of the first international conference of the NPP will be to contribute to the efforts of the national party to organise and prepare the party to win the 2008 election, the longer-term objective is to reinforce our position as the natural party of government that can and will deliver progressive and lasting change for all the people of Ghana”.

The US chairman of the NPP, Mr. Kofi A. Boateng also observed that after the conference, measures, with effective time frame, should be put in place to ensure the reactivation of the Party’s International Desk at the national headquarters and made a firm request to the all branches to make firm financial commitment to help sustain its running

The National Chairman of NPP, Mr Macmanu who chaired the pre-conference briefing thanked the UK group for hosting the conference and welcomed all the delegates to UK. He said it was important for the international branches to find a network of pulling ideas together this conference is a shining example of the overseas branches working together. He reiterated his firm commitment to running the international desk at the party headquarters and assured them that there was a general consensus among national executives of the urgent need to get the Desk running. He said that the Chicago and Botswana branches have already made representations to his executives about the Desk and that there was the need for the Diasporan Party to work together to support the running of the Desk

The conference is being hosted by the NPP UK & Ireland branch on behalf of all international branches and with the full support of the NPP National Executive Committee and the Party in Ghana.