This is what has informed the NPP’s decision to recruit well over 420,000 individuals to help canvass for votes for the party ahead of the elections. This is in line with its philosophy of running a total grassroots campaign.
The party is set to form a 20-member campaign team in each of the over 21,000 existing polling stations across the length and breadth of the country, which translates into the nationwide official canvassing team of more than 420,000 volunteers.
Deputy Communications Director of the NPP, Perry Okudzeto, said it ‘will be scientific and intimate.’
The party already has five executives per polling station area, comprising a chairperson, secretary, organizer, women’s organizer and youth organizer.
Fifteen others are expected to be selected to join, complimenting the personnel of the existing structure.
Ten of them will be selected by the party’s presidential candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and five others by the parliamentary candidates of each of the 230 constituencies.
Campaign Manager of the NPP, Boakye Agyarko, believes ‘no party in Ghana has the width and depth of structures that we have. So we intend to use the structures and personnel optimally and work hard and smart for victory in December 2012.’
The parliamentary candidates of the party have thus been advised to choose volunteers who will bring skills, attributes and backgrounds that will compliment that of the five existing polling station executives.
In view of the fact that the 2008 voters register pegged the number of registered voters at 13,278,941, it is estimated that each of the 21,032 recognised polling stations in Ghana has an average of 631 registered voters within its catchment area.
According to Mr. Okudzeto, this makes each member of the polling station canvassing team responsible for approximately 32 registered voters, making it easier for the party to deliver its message directly and deploy resources efficiently.
The constituency and regional officers of the party are thus expected to play the leadership role of supervisors and monitors of the grassroots campaign, whilst parliamentary candidates will also serve as the chairmen of the constituency campaign team, with the constituency Chairman as their vice.
All constituency officers, the chairperson of the constituency council of elders and 5 others, to be selected by the flag-bearer in consultation with the parliamentary candidate of a particular constituency, will form the campaign team in the constituency.
At the regional level, the regional campaign team will be chaired by the regional chairman, with the vice chairperson being selected by the presidential candidate. The presidential candidate will also nominate 5 persons to this campaign team.
In addition to this, parliamentary candidates in the region will also nominate 3 members to the regional campaign team.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
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