A leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, has called on delegates of the party to elect Mr Paul Afoko as the party’s next national chairman.
“It will be a monumental mistake for the NPP to hold elections in the north and elect people from the south as its top officers,” he told the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday.
According to him, besides the fact that Mr Afoko is more than competent, natural justice dictates that the new leader of the party should be a citizen of that part of the country.
“Even with international organisations, whenever a new executive is elected, the host country almost invariably gets the leadership slot,” he stated.
Change
The renowned heart surgeon also stressed the need for a change of the General Secretary of the party, saying, “it must not be the old one again.”
Prof. Frimpong-Boateng called on the delegates to put the interest of the party above all personal interests and elect capable individuals who have the knowledge and skills to re-organise the party and change its electoral fortunes.
“In other words, delegates are encouraged to vote for people who are capable of helping the NPP win the next general election,” he said.
“There must be a change and only the delegates can bring about this needed change. We cannot continue to tread the old path and expect different results; that is what Albert Einstein called insanity,” he stated.
Rigging
Prof. Frimpong-Boateng also called on delegates to be vigilant to stop those who were bent on rigging the elections.
“There is every indication that proxy votes are going to be used to compromise the integrity of the elections,” he said.
Sounding philosophical, he quoted US politician Walter Mondale, who once said, “Political image is like mixing cement. When it is wet, you can move it around and shape it, but at some point, it hardens and there’s almost nothing you can do to reshape it.”
Prof. Frimpong-Boateng said the NPP cement appeared wet and urged the delegates to help shape it now as it was hardening rather fast.
“The year 2016 is only two years away and every second brings us closer and closer to election day in December 2016,” he said.
According to him, people are intimidated when they want to critically examine the mistakes they have made. He stressed that “we need to confront both our fears and mistakes because as Confucius remarked, “A man who has committed a mistake and doesn’t correct it is committing another mistake.”