A Senior Member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Maame Abena Ankobea, an elderly woman has said the Party was founded on the ideals of patriotism and love for the country.
She, therefore, asked the Party's delegates to be bold and expose aspirants who might attempt to buy their conscience with money to obtain leadership positions in the Party's impending regional executives' elections.
“The situation where some people from nowhere just appear and try to influence delegates with money to obtain leadership positions in the NPP is strange to the Party until these recent years”, the 79-year-old woman, also a member of the Council of Elders of the NPP in the Tano North Constituency stated.
Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Tanoso in the Tano North Municipality of Ahafo Region, Maame Ankobea said “the NPP is now NPP because of the self-sacrificing attitude of our founding fathers”, saying “if we allow money to control us in our elections, then we must prepare to lose our loyal members”.
She emphasised the need for the Party to identify and honour dedicated, sacrificial and loyal members and supporters who stood behind and held the fort for the Party in its trying moments in the political history of the country.
“Though we believe in internal democracy, the NPP is not just a Party where you can just come and contest for leadership positions. People have suffered for the Party and we must acknowledge, appreciate and reward them accordingly”.
“We can't just sit down and look on for this unpatriotic generation to come and destroy our Party for us. Yes, they have money, but we must question the source of their wealth. If we allow them to take over the Party because of the money, posterity would not spare us”, she said.
Maame Ankobea regretted that the once respected and dignity for the Council of Elders and other senior and leading members of the NPP had waned, saying until something was done immediately, the younger generation would destroy the NPP.
“Many of them don't even know and understand the ideologies and philosophies upon which the NPP was formed, but they are doing all things possible to buy the delegates and win internal elections”.
“The structures which once upon a time worked in our great Party are no longer working. The younger ones do not respect the elderly any longer. So please tell the leaders in Accra that the Party in Tano North is collapsing because of the selfish interest of some few young people”, she said.
Maame Ankobea said she was extremely unhappy and disappointed about unhealthy events that had characterised the Party's constituency elections in parts of the country.
She called on the Party to be guarded and not allow its internal elections to sow seeds of discord and breed hatred and animosity.
“The current situation of the NPP in the Tano North Constituency is not the best and the leadership must intervene to tackle the diverse problems, once and for all for the Party to gain grounds”.
That notwithstanding, Maame Ankobea said the fortunes of the NPP in Election 2024 remained brighter, saying President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had done a lot for the Party to retain political power.
She commended the government for the implementation of the Free Senior High School (FSHS) programme, saying the programme alone could widen the vote margin of the NPP in the next elections.
Maame Ankobea, therefore, called on the Party to tackle its internal problems proactively, bury all differences and forge ahead in unity to win Election 2024.
