NPP FOOT SOLDIERS MUST DEVISE STRATEGIES FOR ELECTION 2008 (PAGE 16)

Story:Benjamin Xornam Glover, Bolgatanga.
Foot soldiers of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Upper East Region have been called upon to warm up and generate new campaign strategies to win more voters for the party to ensure massive victory for the party in 2008.They have also been urged to embark on a massive education in all communities on the party's capabilities to retain power.The Deputy Upper East Regional Minister, Mrs Agnes A. Chigabatia, made the call at the weekend during the re-launch ceremony of “One Touch Club”, a youth campaign organization within the NPP in the Bolgatanga Constituency.The club was officially outdoored by the Vice-President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, in 2004, with the objective of uniting the rank and file of the party, with the view to winning elections “one touch”.Mrs. Chigabatia, who is also the MP for Builsa North, advised party members to stop the pull-him-down attitude and the backbiting and forge ahead in unity to ensure massive victory for the party.“We need to close our ranks by addressing the bickering, hate and the seeming power struggle that is going on in the party, especially during the primaries of the party across the country,” she said.She called for the use of dialogue and the appropriate channels given by the party’s constitution to address the challenges, rather than resorting to demonstrations, which were “tantamount to washing our dirty linen in public”.The MP urged the party faithful to be circumspect in their pronouncements in order not to inflame passions, which could threaten the peace and stability of the country.Mrs. Chigabatia, who catalogued her party’s developmental projects in the country since the NPP assumed the reigns of government, appealed to sympathisers of the party to intensify their campaigns to retain the party in power.The Regional Organiser of NPP, Mr Mahamoud Mahama, debunked assertions by political opponents that the introduction of mass transport services was aimed at collapsing the operations of the private transporters, stressing that those were some of the attempts employed by the opposition to deceive the people.The Chairman of the Club, Alhaji Alhassan Abdul Rahman, in a speech read on his behalf, called for unity among all members of the party.Madam Alima Mercy Musah, NPP parliamentary candidate for Bolgatanga Constituency, said with hard work and support from members of the party, she was poised to win the parliamentary seat for the party.