Kufuor heads campaign advisory board

The 2012 Campaign Manager of the New Patriotic Party, Boakye Kyerematen Agyarko, has been outlining the campaign structure to the party’s regional and constituency executives and parliamentary candidates during Nana Akufo-Addo’s ongoing ‘All Hands on Deck’ national tour.

The tour has so far taken the team, which includes the National Chairman Jake Obetesbi-Lamptey and General Secretary Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, to the Central, Ashanti, Brong Ahafo and Northern Regions. The team takes the message of unity for victory in 2012 to the Upper East Region on today and Upper East tomorrow.

Mr Boakye Agyarko has announced that the 2012 campaign of the NPP will be “Electoral Area and Polling Station based”, describing it as “total grassroots campaign” and that the constituency officers will serve as “supervisors” for the grassroots-based campaign.

Speaking to both winners and losers of the recently held parliamentary primaries, the Campaign Manager announced that at the top structure of the 2012 NPP campaign is a special body, the Campaign Advisory Board, which is headed by former President John Agyekum Kufuor.

The advisory board has former Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama as its Vice Chairman. Other members are the Flagbearer, Nana Akufo-Addo, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Minority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Boakye Agyarko, and two women of immense political experience to be appointed by the Flagbearer.

According to Boakye Agyarko the work of the Campaign Advisory Board is “basically to serve as a kind of council of state for the 2012 campaign. It will guide the campaign. It is there for the campaign to refer matters to, run ideas by them and they may also offer ideas and suggestions and when they see something they may quickly draw the campaign team’s attention to it for appropriate action to be taken.”

He explained that former President Kufuor has “a wealth of experience in presidential campaigns from which the 2012 campaign is happy to be drawing in a well structured manner. We are all united in our determined, dedicated and disciplined effort to win power next year, offer real political leadership and bring back hope to the people of this country. ”

Mr J A Kufuor first contested the NPP’s maiden presidential nomination in 1992, coming third to the late Albert Adu Boahen. In 1996 he won the party’s nomination but lost the presidential election to President J J Rawlings.

He returned, after being retained by the party, to defeat Vice President J E A Mills in the 2000 election. He went on to defeat Prof Mills again in 2004, serving two terms as President of the Republic with Alhaji Aliu Mahama as his Vice President for both terms.

Mr Kufuor, who was first elected as an MP in 1969, comes to the 2012 campaign with over 42 years of political experience behind him.

“Nana Akufo-Addo is naturally thrilled by the former President’s strong enthusiasm for this campaign. The NPP is the party united for victory in 2012,” Mr Boakye Agyarko underlined.