The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has rallied its rank and filed for an electoral victory in 2024, breaking the eight-year presidential cycle jinx.
The Party said it was mindful of events in 2008 and other historical antecedents where “disunity in the Party” thwarted its desire to retain power.
At a media engagement in Accra Thursday to mark the Party’s 30th-anniversary celebration, Mr. Justin Frimpong Kodua, General Secretary, NPP, said the new leadership would ensure a free and fair process in the Party’s Parliamentary and Presidential Primaries to foster unity.
“When you feel like publicly taking on a Party member, when you undermine a Party fellow member, when you tell yourself you will not go out and campaign or even bother to vote, think of 1979, 2008, and the pain that we went through,” Mr Kodua said.
He added that: “As national executives, we pledge to act us impartial referees in the upcoming elections,” and admonished other executives to do so.
Mr Kodua urged the Party’s supporters and prospective aspirants to refrain from the use of provocative language, character assassination, and other divisive practices in the lead-up to the Party’s primaries.
“In this era of social media, it is important not to wash our dirty linen in public,” he said.
The NPP’s 30th anniversary is on the theme: NPP at 30: Our shared tradition, holding and working together for a prosperous and stable nation.
Founded on 28th July 1992, the NPP is a center-right and liberal-conservative Party in Ghana with the symbol of an African elephant. The Party’s colors are red, white, and blue.
The Party traces its routes to the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), the first political Party in Ghana.
Mr Kodua paid glowing tribute to the NPP’s founding founders from the days of the UGCC, and said the Party was proud of the contributions it had made to the country’s democratic development.
“We, the current adherents are extremely proud of the tradition to which we lay claim and the role that the NPP and its antecedents have played in making the rule of law, multi-party democracy, respect for individual liberties and the pursuit of a liberal economy, the distinguishing factors of the political and economic landscape of Ghana,” he said.
Mr. Kodua said the party was aware of the current economic challenges confronting the country and assured them that the government would work assiduously to “turn things around.”
“We aim to reduce inflation to pre-pandemic levels, keep the national debt at sustainable levels, create jobs, and fund public infrastructure projects, particularly roads and schools,” he said.
Mr Stephen Ayesu Ntim, National Chairman, NPP, congratulated members of the Party for achieving the 30-year milestone and urged them to participate in all activities planned for the celebrations.
He reiterated that the new administration would work closely with the Government to ensure that the Party’s input was considered in decision-making.
Source:GNA