NPP holds Kufuor, Ministers accountable

The President, Mr. John Agyekum Kufuor and his Ministers are expected to account for their stewardship of the government of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to the leadership and foot soldiers of the party at tomorrow’s National Delegates Conference to be held in Koforidua. In what would look like the party’s referendum on the legacy of the Kufuor administration so far, disenchanted foot soldiers who have been complaining of being neglected by the government after they had suffered to bring it from opposition to power, may pour out their frustration as it is the first time they are being offered the opportunity to interact face-to-face with the president in-house.

National Organizer of the party, Mr. Lord Commey, told The Chronicle in an interview yesterday that the main focus of tomorrow’s conference is to offer the foot soldiers of the party the rare opportunity to question the president and Ministers on what they have been able to do for the nation so far.

“For the first time, President Kufuor would be given the platform to tell the entire membership of the party what he and his team have done so far to advance the course of the party and the nation. A question-and-answer session would also be created to enable the ordinary members of the party question ‘Key’ ministers on what they have been able to do so far,” the national organizer said.

Though he did not state the criteria for the selection of the Key ministers who would be questioned at the conference, Mr. Commey readily mentioned that Ministers for sectors like Health and employment would definitely have to tell the party supporters about the progress of major policies like the National Health Insurance Scheme and the Youth Employment Programme.

“One of the major aims of the conference is to equip delegates and supporters of the party with the right government information so that when they get back to their various constituencies, they can serve as propagandists for the party,” the organizer said, adding, “this will help in disseminating government information since there have been consistent complaints about government’s information dissemination.”

Mr. Commey did not agree with a suggestion that Ministers who are nursing presidential ambitions may decide to use their time with the party supporters as an opportunity to market themselves, even though he did not rule out the fact that the conference provided the best opportunity for the aspirants to test their popularity.

“I would be surprised if I don’t see any ground-testing moves among those who have presidential ambitions. This is the only forum that brings together all the people who matter most when it comes to the election of presidential candidates and I know that those who have flagbearership aspirations would definitely test their chances; but that will definitely not distract our attention from focusing on the main agenda of the conference,” he said.

National Chairman of the NPP, Mr. Peter Mac Manu has meanwhile denied speculations that the party would be making amendments to its constitution at the impending national delegates conference.

He told The Chronicle in an interview that Article 19 of the party’s constitution states that, “every amendment to this Constitution shall be made at a delegate’s conference, provided that notice of such amendment has been submitted in writing to the General Secretary not later than two months before the national delegates conference.”

He said, no proposal had been made for any amendment to be considered, stressing, “Constitutional amendment is not going to be part of the issues to be considered at the congress on Saturday.”

Mr. Mac Manu stated that the party’s constitution, which was its supreme document, mandates them to hold an annual conference each year to deliberate on issues affecting the party and the nation.

He noted that among the highlights of the conference would be a presentation on the state of the party by the National Chairman as well as the presentation of the financial statement of the party for the year to the delegates, to be done by the National Treasurer of the party.

The national chairman explained that there was no way polling station chairmen were going to be included as delegates as was being proposed by some of the major players in the party.

In fact The Chronicle can independently confirm that presidential aspirants like Dr. Kwame Addo Kufuor and Mr. Allan Kyeremanten had been meeting polling station chairmen of all the constituencies they visit in their campaign tours because of the suspicion that polling station Chairmen would possibly be included as delegates during the party’s congress later this year.

The congress will begin on Friday January 05, 2007 with the arrival of all the delegates. On Saturday January 6, 2007 there would be an interaction among the delegates and the President, ministers of state and party executives.

The climax of the conference would be on Sunday when an interdenominational church service would be held, followed by a rally at the Koforidua Jackson’s Park.

The theme for the conference is “Moving forward in unity”.