Opinions of Monday, 25 December 2017

Columnist: Issah Fuseini

The next NPP Delegates Conference must be held in Western Region

President Akufo-Addo and Vice President Bawumia during NPP's Delegates Conference President Akufo-Addo and Vice President Bawumia during NPP's Delegates Conference

The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), on Sunday, December 17, held an extraordinary national delegates conference to consider various proposed amendments to the party’s Constitution.

The event took place in Kumasi was a follow up to the Annual National Delegates Conference in August this year, at which various proposals were made for amendments to the party’s constitution.

Over 5,000 delegates including founding fathers and patrons of the party, Members of Parliament on the party’s ticket, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives and national officers of the party attended the programme to fulfilled our constitutional mandate.

As part of the party determination to restructure and strengthen the rank and file of the party, there is the need to elect party executives from polling station, Electoral Area Coordinators, Constituency Executives, Regional Executives, National Executives and Parliamentary Primaries.

The party constitution has spelt out procedures for these exercise and does not warrant any explanations, and the timetable is out for this crucial constitutional mandatory exercise.

The area of my concern has to do with next year national delegates conference, where all the constituency and regional executives would be gathered to elect our National executives, that is the National delegates conference.

We the people of Western Region are very interested in hosted the event, and are calling on our authority, especially the National Council, to consider Western Regional as the host of next year conference, as there are about to consider where to organized the National Delegates Conference.

If my memory sets me right, the last time Western Region held an event of such was 2001 when Hon.Mustapha Hamid and co was elected as National Executives.

The NPP as a party has performed creditably in the western region by increasing our seats from eight to sixteen in the last elections and will like to further increase the seats to twenty one in the next elections. To keep the party active and strong, we will like appeal to the leadership to consider western region as a possible place for the next year event.

I believed that this will be the surest way that our Party can win the confidence of the floating voters and retain political power in the next general election. Western region has contributed satisfactorily in building New Patriotic Party since 1992 till date.

It is a known fact that western region was one of the region that gave us victory 2016 and cannot afford to lose this opportunity in hosting the event here in Takoradi. Events of such, keep the hope and the spirit of the party high.

In terms of facilities to accommodate all the delegates across the country, Western region have more than enough, in terms organizers of the program, western region stand tall, one clear example was the Amenfi west bye election and others events that took place in western region. We have a unique team that work with passion and can be trusted for good and quality work, before and after the event.

The main purpose of the delegates conference is elect executives for various positions available in the party for the next four years. Therefore, delegates must vote for very competent people to lead the party and not surrogates of the party.

Let us remember that the NPP is bigger than any individual. We all will enter and exit, but the New Patriotic Party never dies. In campaigning for our various candidates, we must be careful and mindful that we are all from the same family, whatever you say today, may be used as a hunting weapon against you in the near future. A word to the wise, is enough.