Bolgatanga, Oct. 23, GNA - Mr Alan Kyeremanteng, a presidential aspirant of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has cautioned the Party's delegates to do critical assessment and vote for a candidate who would be able to win next year's general election.

He gave the caution when he met NPP constituency chairmen and polling agents in Bolgatanga on Monday to announce his presidential bid and solicit their support ahead of the Party's primaries scheduled for December this year.

Mr Kyeremanteng warned that the 2008 elections would be hardly fought by other parties in their bid to wrestle power from the NPP. "You need to vote for a leader who can take the NPP to victory, otherwise you will be doing a great disservice to the Party and the country," he told the potential delegates. He urged them to vote for a candidate who has the ability to finish President Agyekum Kufuor's unfinished developmental agenda, which he said included "creating of more jobs and more cash". Mr Kyeremanteng said the NPP government had done a lot for Ghanaians but the only thing left was the creation of more jobs to make Ghanaians rich and more comfortable. This requires a leadership with the vision, international experience and exposure, he said, adding that he possessed all those qualities.

Mr Kyeremanteng said long service in the Party should not be used as a yardstick for electing a candidate. "A candidate who is highly marketable, visionary and experienced, and can transform the economy to middle-income level should be the one to be targeted", he added.

He spoke about his stewardship in the NPP, saying he had served the Party's structures for 30 years and also held numerous positions in government.

Mr Kyeremanteng urged the potential delegates to intensify house-to-house campaigns to effectively sell the Party's message and also market him as the presidential candidate. He presented GH=A210,000 (100 million) cedis cash and food items to the Regional Coordinating Council to be distributed to victims of recent floods that hit the three northern regions and part of Western region.