Suspend the 'suspensions' - Kwame Pianim counsels 'fighting' NPP members (audio)
A founder member of the opposition New Patriotic Party, Mr Kwame Pianim has counseled party members and leadership to throw their weight behind the flagbearer and get the campaign for 2016 going.
According to him, the party should focus on moving forward towards Election 2016 by concentrating on forming its campaign team instead of the present infighting that has bedeviled it.
Speaking to journalists in Accra on Tuesday about the problems in the party, Mr Pianim said he was a “broken” man and “frustrated over the troubles” in the NPP which according to him, should be prepared to take over the affairs of state since in his view, the ruling NDC was showing it was incapable of solving the problems of the country.
He said the time for smoking the peace pipe was now and that would only happen if all sides in the party were able to tell themselves in the face that 'what we want is political power and not unnecessary "bickering."
“All the insults in the press, all the press statements, all that should cease. Let’s all get together and work. We have a job to do, we are fighting an election. The candidate should be empowered to select his campaign team”.
The NPP has lately been embroiled in leadership disagreements leading to the suspension of three national executives. Messrs Paul Afoko, National Chairman; Kwabena Agyepong, General Secretary; and Sammy Crabbe, Second Vice Chairman, have all been handed indefinite suspensions for alleged misconduct.
Listen to Mr Pianim here {mp3}kwame_pianim_counsels_npp_suspension{/mp3}
Proposal to move forward
Mr Pianim, one-time presidential aspirant of the NPP, proposed that the leader of the party should select his campaign team, “...stop all the cases in court, remove it and let's all then put our weight behind the campaign team.”
Asked whether the suspended executives should be reinstated as part of his proposals for moving forward, Mr Pianim said he was not putting any such precondition on the table, rather he said, “let's all sacrifice our pride for the good of Ghana, let's sacrifice our pride for the suffering masses of Ghana and get together to work in a campaign mood.”
“…Let everybody withdraw their cases in court, let all these people suspend whatever suspensions they’ve made and then let’s start on a new leaf. This is the only way we can move forward.”
“I am not saying they should resume their duties, I’m saying every officer who is elected, you are elected. We are giving these powers to the campaign manager selected by the flagbearer to exercise all these powers until we finish the election and then people can go back to their appointed positions.”
According to Mr Pianim the focus should shift from these elected officers. “Let's focus on the campaign and the flagbearer.”
These, he said, would enable the party to focus on providing policy alternatives to the government in power.
“What are we saying to the budget, what are we saying to the dumsor crisis, what are we saying about global warming, what is Ghana’s response, what measures is government putting in place so that we can get some of the funds that are for mitigation, for new energy and so on and so forth. This is what should be pre-occupying us… instead of the fight within the NPP, it is not relevant, faced with the problems that are facing us, the hungry people, the sick people who don’t have a place to go to hospital, these are more important.”
Writer's email: enoch.frimpong@graphic.com.gh