I’ll Lead NPP Youth Attack For Victory 2016 – Sammi Awuku Assures

A leading contender for the National Youth Organiser position of the New Patriotic Party, Sammi Awuku, says he is poised to win the contest to get the opportunity “to lead the party’s youth attack” to ensure a resounding victory for the NPP in the 2016 general elections.

“I will lead the youth attack by re-energising the youth base, reviving the spirit of volunteerism and mobilising the youth for effective campaign to secure victory to give the good people of Ghana a president from the NPP on January 7, 2017,” he stated in an exclusive interview with the New Statesman.

The aspiring youth organiser says the youth of the NPP are poised to produce the next President of the nation “for the party and the nation”, with him at the forefront harnessing “the strength in our numbers and the power of our conviction to achieve this feat.”

He adds that “in our collectivity(sic) will be our strength and in our determination will be our conviction.”

Awuku believes the youth wing of the NPP is not in the best of shape at the moment in terms of the structures and the personnel in charge. He stresses that “the youth wing must not exist only on paper but must be completely decentralised and well-resourced to prosecute specific programmes from the top to the polling station level, all geared towards winning more political grounds for the party.”

He has proposed to embark on “a major youth policy drive” to revamp the youth wing, with the establishment of operational centres to aid grassroots work. This he intends to do by recruiting about 100,000 able-bodied young men and women to complement the efforts of the party’s polling station executives during the electioneering campaign, and also support the work of the polling agents on the day of elections.

According to Sammi Awuku, the youth secretariat of the NPP should not be made up of only the youth organiser and his deputies, “but should be a complete campaign office with other units such as research and intelligence unit and a body to be in charge of identifiable youth groups. These structures must exist with active people resourced to carry out specific duties.”

Sammi Awuku believes the time has come for the youth wing of the NPP to run a separate campaign that will specifically target the youth votes. He says this is “crucial because what resonates with the youth is different from what resonates with the elderly.”

The plan for the separate youth campaign, he explained, is to be utilised fully the exuberance of the young Members of Parliament, the leadership and membership of TESCON, and other youth activists of the party in prosecuting effective youth campaign.

“The youth wing at all levels of the party, from the national level through the regional to constituency and polling stations will be empowered and well-resourced to carry out assigned responsibilities, all geared towards the 2016 victory agenda,” he stated.

Sammi Awuks says he is also coming into office with “a cutting edge programme to support the work of young MPs “so that as they work for the party in parliament and in other capacities there will be people in their constituencies to support their work there.”

The aspiring youth organiser is also going to develop what he calls “a new form of enthusiasm” in the youth wing by hooking each of the regional youth wings to one overseas branch of the party. The NPP has about 16 overseas branches.

“With the support of the International Relations Office, and working with the National Executive Committee, we will make appeal to the overseas branches to adopt one regional youth wing and support it with logistics to carry out their work,” he explained how the plan will work.

Sammi’s message for the NPP delegates is simple: “Elections are not about who hails from where; it is all about who can do the work at stake. It is time to save the sinking ship and not the captain’s wife.”