Tears as NPP leaders beg for votes

The outgoing Member of Parliament for Cape Coast, Ms Christine Churcher is reported in the Monday, December 15 edition of the Daily Graphic to have gone on her knees in the hot sands at the Winneba beach to plead with fishermen there to vote for the New Patriotic Party in the December 28 run-off.

Ms Churcher was a member of a team of NPP leaders, which included flag-bearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo that toured parts of the Central Region to plead with electorates to have a change of heart and vote for Nana Addo in the run-off.

The region, which has fishing as one of its major occupations and a source of livelihood for many, rebelled against the NPP in the December 7 general elections and voted massively for the National Democratic Congress, a sharp contrast to what pertained in the 2000 and 2004 elections when the region virtually voted en-bloc for the NPP. The NPP lost 8 out of its 16 seats in the region during the December 7, 2008 election, while the NDC profited from the situation with an increase of its seats from two to 11

Issues such as less than expected attention to the concerns of the fisherfolk are suggested to have accounted for the party’s love-lost with the electorate.

“Two major factors believed to have caused the misfortune of the party were the problems of premix fuel and pair trawling by Chinese vessels, which sources say created enormous discomfort among the fishing community,” reported the Daily Graphic of the Saturday tour by the NPP gurus.

The tour took the flag-bearer and his entourage to fishermen, traders and mechanics at Winneba, Agona Swedru, Mankesim and Cape Coast, augmented with interviews on Golden Star FM at Agona Swedru and Radio Central in Cape Coast, whose platform he used to thank the good people of the region for voting peacefully on December 7.

Said the Graphic; “The mission of Nana Akufo-Addo was very simple - to overturn the 23,000 votes by which he fell behind Prof Mills in the first round by pleading with the fishermen, traders and all others in the region whose feelings must have been hurt, to forgive and look at the party's positive side to renew their faith in it.

“The apology was rendered better, perhaps, by the outgoing Member of Parliament (MP) for Cape Coast, Ms Christine Churcher.

“In a very remorseful demeanour and with tears in her eyes, Ms Churcher, affectionately called the “The Iron Lady”, knelt in the hot sand before the fishermen at the Winneba beach for about two minutes to beg them for forgiveness.

“Her unimagined act pricked the emotions of the gathering, many of whom found it difficult to watch the scene, while others could not help but chuckle with pity.”

Christine Churcher is not the only known figure in the NPP who is begging the electorate to renew their faith in the party. Kofi Konadu Apraku and Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, NPP campaign director and campaign chairman respectively, have both followed suit on Joy FM and asked the electorate to forgive and forget the past.