Politics of Friday, 29 July 2022
Source: www.ghanaweb.live
2022-07-29Breaking the 8: NPP must avoid repeat of 1979, 2008 defeats – Justin Kodua
Justin Koduah Frimpong, NPP General Secretary
Justin Frimpong Kodua, the General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has rallied the party’s rank and file to do all it takes to maintain power beyond 2024.
The current tenure of the NPP-led Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government elapses after the 2024 elections and the NPP is looking to become the first party under the Fourth Republic to
Read full articlewin a third consecutive term in office, a mission they have tagged ‘Breaking The Eight.’
According to Kodua, there are two historical incidents where “disunity in the Party” thwarted the efforts to retain power. He wants all members to work towards avoiding a repeat.
“When you feel like publicly taking on a Party member, when you undermine a Party fellow member, when you tell yourself you will not go out and campaign or even bother to vote, think of 1979, 2008, and the pain that we went through,” Mr Kodua said.
JFK as he is affectionately known was speaking at a media engagement in Accra Thursday, July 28, to mark the Party’s 30th-anniversary celebration.
The anniversary is on the theme: NPP at 30: Our shared tradition, holding and working together for a prosperous and stable nation.
He assured all aspirants for upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections that the new executives will act as impartial umpires at all times: “As national executives, we pledge to act as impartial referees in the upcoming elections,” urging other executives to do the same.
The 2008 and 1979 losses
In 2008, the NPP fielded Akufo-Addo as a candidate when John Agyekum Kufuor’s second term ended but the party lost power to the John Evans Atta Mills-led National Democratic Congress.
The flagbearership contest was acrimonious with Akufo-Addo coming up against Alan Kyerematen – rumoured to be the outgoing president’s preferred successor.
In 1979, it is said that disunity within the Popular Front Party, PFP, led by Victor Owusu, led to the loss of the party at the polls.
The presidential election resulted in victory for Hilla Limann of the People's National Party, who received 62% of the votes in the run-off.
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