NPP will not use state machinery to campaign - Botwe

The General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Dan Botwe has said the party would not use state machinery to campaign in the forthcoming 2004 general elections.

He said while in opposition the parity criticised the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2000 elections for using state resources to campaign and therefore the NPP would not repeat that mistake in the 2004 elections.

Mr Botwe said this at the opening of a three-day capacity building workshop for 87 NPP regional functionaries from the 26 constituencies in the Eastern Region at Koforidua on Wednesday.

The workshop was to empower the participants with relevant skills in communication and organisation to enable them provide quality leadership in their respective constituencies to make NPP more visible for effective in the mobilisation of votes in the region.

It was under the sponsorship of the Netherlands Institute of Multiparty Democracy and the Institute of Economics Affairs (IEA), which aimed at building the capacity of all political parties for the next general elections.

According to Mr Botwe, the NPP would run a cost effective campaign in the 2004 elections and urged the constituencies to ensure that they generate resources for their activities.

He explained that the workshop had become necessary in view of the competitiveness of the forthcoming campaign.

"The time has come for politics to go scientific," he said, reiterating that the party would win over 140 seats next year and called on the functionaries to work hard towards victory.

Mr Botwe asked the participants to zone their constituencies for effective mobilisation and strategising.

"The NPP is ready for the elections," he declared but cautioned the party members not to be complacent.

The General Secretary called for disciplined within the party without which it could not achieve good results.