LET'S REMOVE COAT AND TIE - EFFAH-DARTEY

Capt (Rtd) Kwame Nkrabea Effah-Dartey

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Friday, April 11, 2014

A New Patriotic Party (NPP) General Secretary aspirant, Capt (Rtd) Kwame Nkrabea Effah-Dartey says he knows what the party can do to wrestle power from the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) in 2016.

“It is about time we put down the coat and tie. We are dealing with an opponent that knows how to rig and bully so we also need a militant General Secretary to go into the trenches with them and force them to play according to the rules.”

Lawyer Effah-Dartey made the declaration when he paid official visit to Western Publications Limited, publishers of Daily Guide in Accra yesterday.

Boot For Boot

The former Deputy Minister of the Interior who is facing stiff competition from incumbent Kwadwo Owusu-Afriyie aka Sir John, Kwabena Agyei Agyapong and Yaw Buaben Asamoa, said when voted as General Secretary, he will ensure “the NPP matches the NDC boot for boot” in 2016.

He said “I did it in Berekum in 2000 when the NDC was bullying every opponent. I told them that should there be a single electoral malpractice there was going to be chaos and as a result they played by the rule and I won by over 13,000 votes.”

“It is as if in the NPP when we are being cheated we sit down for events to unfold and we do nothing. I am not saying we should go into 2016 with bazookas and automatic rifles but I am saying we should insist that the right thing is done so we protect our rights.”

“2016 must be fought on a level-playing field. We would not wait to go to the Supreme Court because the judges have already told us that we should insist things are done right at the polling station.”

Radio Campaign

Accompanied by Zack Rahman, an aide, he said his campaign has been effective and added that he had visited all the 275 constituencies to sell his ideas to the delegates.

“There is no point sitting in Accra and making noise on radio. For those in the media blaze I am seen as the underdog but at the grass root I am the frontrunner.”

Empowerment

He said when elected, he would organize seminar for all parliamentary candidates and teach them what he calls ‘the rudiments of the game,’ and promised that as General Secretary, he would ensure logistics get to the constituencies three clear months before general election.

He also promised to supervise an effective campaign devoid of what he called ‘flamboyance’ and said party activities would be sustained throughout campaign seasons.

Mr. Effah-Dartey said if he does not win the contest he would still make his ideas available to the party but said the work he had done underground with all the delegates will yield dividends in Tamale on Saturday.

“I can guarantee that if Nkrabea is the General Secretary and we galvanize the people, the NPP will win hands down. The people are yearning for the NPP and it is up to us to work hard.”

No Speech

On the decision by the party not to allow speeches from candidates at the congress Mr. Effah-Dartey said “I am indifferent…I wish there will be speeches but I don’t want it to be just two minutes…I am really not worried whether we speak or not speak.”

“I have already met the delegates and sold my message to them…they bought into my message…I told them I am coming on board as a unifier, with experience and militancy.”

Factionalism

He said that unless we eschewed the perceptions of division in the party, the NPP was going to struggle in 2016 saying “fortunately, I don’t belong to any faction and I am the unifier with experience to bring everybody on board.’

He urged the delegates to think about what he called the central problem of the party which was to recapture power in order to slect the right candidates.

This is not Mr. Effah-Dartey’s first attempt in a political contest. He has been a two term serving MP for Berekum (2001 -2009).

In 2007, he was disqualified in his attempt to contest in the NPP presidential primary and for the 2008 elections; 2010, he placed third in the NPP Delegates’ Congress held in Kumasi where Sir John unseated then incumbent Nana Ohene Ntow.