The man himself is on a two-week tour in Asia, a tour that began in Malaysia and ends in China Thursday. In fact, that has been the lot of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in the last few years, as the campaign to succeed President John Agyekum Kufuor intensifies in the New Patriotic Party.

Since February 17, Nana Akufo-Addo has spent over 60 days abroad. He is out there working, including winning a doubling of aid from South Korea to Ghana the day after Ghana thrashed Korea 3-1 in the final World Cup qualifier. The ?minister arrived here with a number of goals,? President Roh Moo-hyun of South Korea told his guest, Nana Akufo-Addo, when the two men met Monday. From Asia, Ghana?s Foreign Minister heads to Germany to meet President Kufuor, returning to Accra on June 15, through a few days transit in Abuja, Nigeria.

But, his friends want to ensure that his official duties abroad do not unduly hurt his ambition to lead this country to the next level.

His has been long in coming and perhaps for good measure, too. The Statesman can disclose that the clearest indication yet of the Foreign Minister?s preparation to succeed John Agyekum Kufuor as the next President of the Republic Ghana is here.

A research centre, called Friends of Nana Akufo-Addo Institute, has been established here in Accra. The building, directly opposite the old International Press Centre, Kokomlemle, is equipped with staff and computers. Staff members include academics, young graduates and some die-hard loyalists of the ruling party and Nana Akufo-Addo, in particular. When The Statesman visited the walled yellow storey building Tuesday, activity was brisk, sympathisers and party members travel to see for themselves that indeed Nana Akufo-Addo?s campaign machinery is in place, with or without him. Others also now make it a point to stop by at the FONAA office as part of their trip to the capital.

?What we are seeing is that the NPP is strong on members who are highly principled and will not sell their conscience for money. They are happy to receive gifts but do also remember those who supported them and the party even in opposition and are deserving today of their respect and loyalty,? said the spokesperson for FONAA, Mustapha Hamid.

Donations were pouring in from well-wishers, as well. ?We associate with the message from one of the aspirants that the campaign is running the risk of being overly monetised,? said the former Youth Organiser of the NPP.

According to Mr Hamid, the unfortunate thing about this long campaign to become presidential candidate of the NPP is the ?style of promoters of some of the aspirants to concentrate on saying negative things about other candidates rather than projecting the attributes of their own.?

He mentioned, for example, the campaign charge that Nana Akufo-Addo?s campaign is run by his family members.

?I believe FONAA is the closest thing to a campaign structure that Nana Akufo-Addo?s presidential bid can boast of. But, not a single member of his family works here. Well, I?m related to Nana Akufo-Addo by ideology!? punned Mr Hamid.

?I?m sure if the Gold Coast showed a similar attitude at the time, the struggle for Independence would not have been the same. Three members of the Big Six were his relatives. J B Danquah, his great uncle, Paa Willie, his uncle, and his own father Edward Akufo-Addo,? recalled the FONAA spokesperson.

Even in recent years, the contributions made to the party by the late Ferdinand Ayim, Dr Jones Ofori-Atta, Yaw Amfo-Kwakye, Fred Guggisberg Asante and others of the Ofori-Atta clan should rather be celebrated and not degenerated,? he advised, adding, ?but we know better and the party loyalists know best.? According to the chief patron of FONAA, Victor Newman, who heads the think tank and co-ordinating centre, the use of the building is primarily to prepare the ground in anticipation of the launching of Nana Akufo-Addo?s bid for the presidential nomination on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party.

The strategy is fivefold: First of all, the institute hopes to co-ordinate the Akufo-Addo fun clubs mushrooming across the country. A significant boost to the confidence of Nana Akufo-Addo?s believers and deactivated foot soldiers is that the FONAA Institute seeks to serve as a centrifugal rallying point for the people committed to supporting the Foreign Minister?s bid to succeed President Kufuor.

Secondly, the institute is tasking itself to undertake a thorough study of the NPP - in collaboration with party executives - with the view to discover, if necessary, how the party may be reformed to become more issue-oriented, more branch-strengthened and more responsive to the sentiments of its rank and file membership and to its future electoral challenges.

The think tank aims to present itself and its works to the party headquarters for the party?s general benefit, after the election of a presidential candidate. The contest is most likely to take place after the country?s Golden Jubilee anniversary next year. The smart money is on June 2007. However, there is a growing argument to have it much earlier in December 2006 or January 2007. The third arm of the institute?s strategy is to device the most effective way for FONAA?s prospective candidate to win the flagbearership of the NPP.

Fourthly, the institute aims to organise periodic lectures to promote the ideologies of the Danquah-Busia tradition. This may go some way to respond to the disquiet within the NPP that the party did not have a public platform, such as the Socialist Forum, to project its ideas.

Finally and ultimately, FONAA will make its main intellectual focus the message and policy initiatives that an Akufo-Addo presidential candidacy will present to the general public.

?Apart from undertaking in-house research analysis on various topics, the institute shall be employing the services of various experts and organisations to perform specific tasks,? explains Mr Newman.

The remarkable nature about this kind of campaign strategy is that the Akufo-Addo campaign, when finally launched, will already have a well-researched manifesto which will clearly spell out how he intends to continue from where President Kufuor leaves off and why the general electorate should give the NPP another term in office after eight years.

?Becoming the presidential candidate should not be determined simply by how much money a candidate spends on party executives. It should not be determined by where a candidate hails from. It should not be decided on the basis of empty promises, bad-mouthing, self-promotion, self-commendation and self-claims on achievements collectively chalked under the able leadership of President Kufuor,? cautions Mr Newman.

Instead, he proposes, ?Who wins the NPP presidential nomination must be the man who can win the hearts, minds and thumbs of the nation. And, winning means having a well-designed, practical, radical and persuasive message delivered by a persuasive, trustworthy candidate, inspirational enough to win the votes and decisive enough to make it happen for Ghana .?

Mr Newman believes the Foreign Minister and MP for Abuakwa South is the ?best man? to succeed President Kufuor. The only remaining task is ?to prepare his package, the NPP delegates, the country and the road map for his presidency.? The head of the FONAA Institute further explains, ?Nana Addo is the strongest NPP man to take the fight to the NDC and all the other parties and come up tops, period. Those who believe his style is too aggressive and confrontational, should also be magnanimous enough to accept that Nana?s time at the Foreign Ministry has shown beyond doubt that he is also an extraordinary diplomat ? one of the finest and most successful Foreign Ministers this country has ever presented to the world. It is this kind of versatility that puts him way ahead of the others. It is the kind of versatility steeped in unyielding principles that makes a great leader.

?The P/NDC?s militaristic posture called for the approach he adopted at the time. His presidency should see that kind of political passion channeled into bringing greater happiness to the greater number of Ghanaians,? predicts Mr Newman.

Mr Newman?s view is that Nana Akufo-Addo?s drive in politics is not for personal ego or to amass wealth but simply to serve and motivate the nation to rise up to its fullest potential.

?He wants to put people and talent to work,? says Mr Newman. ?The gravest negative pull on leadership performance is for the person in leadership position to have one complex or the other about himself. Nana Addo suffers from none of that. He has the greatest respect and belief in the ability of the Ghanaian youth to rise to the occasion. The trick, as can be detected in President Kufuor?s policies, is to create the opportunities for our people to excel. We need to be bolder on that front, though? says Mr Newman. He says the work of the FONAA Institute is not to initiate policies for Nana Akufo-Addo. ?His vision is crystal clear. Our task, therefore, is to furnish the very philosophies and concepts he constructs. For example, he has introduced this exciting concept of Indigenous Capitalism. He wants more and more Ghanaians to take charge of the economy. He wants to create a practical national environment of general access to a property owning democracy. Nana Akufo-Addo wants Ghanaians to fully rediscover their sense of self-belief and self-confidence. He wants patriotism to overtake partisanship. What is our task, as FONAA Institute,? Mr Newman poses rhetorically?

?It is to work out how these hallowed and vital goals can be fully realised in the shortest possible time and as painless as practicable.?

Mr Newman does not see any contradiction between the Foreign Minister?s insistence that the party should focus on President Kufuor?s government delivering for the nation, leaving the succession campaign to a later date and the FONAA Institute being set up now.

?We believe no serious politician should begin his campaign without undertaking a scientific research on his chances and the policies on which he will be standing. Politics is more important than the ability to say the expedient thing at the convenient time. It should be fed by substance otherwise we waste our vote on those who told us what we wanted to hear and gave us what we wanted at that material time but not what we need to hear and what we need to secure, sustain and enhance our future,? is the message from Mr Newman.