DFP Opens Nominations

Posted to the web 17 March 2008
Charles Takyi-Boadu
All is set for the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) to go to congress to elect a Flagbearer and National Executives to lead the party in the upcoming Presidential and Parliamentary elections. The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party, at its meeting on Wednesday, March 12, 2008, decided to hold its national delegates congress from Friday 4th to Saturday 5th April 2008.
A statement issued and signed by the party's Deputy General Secretary, in charge of Finance and Administration, John Amekah, said the decision was arrived at after the party's earlier decision to hold the national delegate's congress on March 14, 2008, was affected by the 26th MTN CAN 2008 football tournament.
Scheduled to take place at the assembly hall of the Accra Polytechnic, the national delegates congress would be under the theme 'restoring national hope and confidence'. In that regard, nominations would be open for contestants for both the Flagbearership and National Executives positions on Monday, March 17, 2008, and close on Monday, March 31, 2008.
The nomination forms for the Flagbearership contest would only be available at the National Secretariat whilst that for National Executives would be available at the National Secretariat and all regional offices of the party spread across the length and breadth of the country.
Some 1,600 delegates are expected to vote to determine the future of the party at the scheduled congress. Meanwhile, the Founder and Leader of the DFP, who happens to be former Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr. Obed Yao Asamoah has totally ruled out the possibility of contesting for any position at stake. He appears to be comfortable with his role as a Founder of the party.
As a party founded on democratic principles and ideologies, the DFP has assured all Ghanaians and its teeming supporters in particular, that the party is as vibrant as ever and poised not only to contest the 2008 Presidential and Parliamentary elections but to make a huge impact on the Ghanaian political scene.
According to the statement, the DFP's plan to hold the congress as originally scheduled for March 14, 2008, was affected by the just ended African Cup of Nations, which in turn affected the academic calendar of most tertiary institutions in the country.
This necessitated a postponement of the event to enable the party to find other alternative and suitable arrangements for both the venue of the congress and accommodation for the delegates who would be attending.Though party leaders are not forthcoming with information about which individuals are likely to contest, sources have it that the race for the Flagbearership is likely to attract serious attention, considering where the DFP is coming from.
Sources close to the top brass of the party have indicated that the DFP would endeavour to elect a new generation type of leadership to lead it into the upcoming elections.It is, however, not clear whether former Finance Minister in the (P)NDC regime, Dr. Kwesi Botchwey would contest for the Flagbearership, after an open denial to that effect. DFP has promised to pull a surprise in the upcoming Presidential and Parliament elections slated for December 2008.
Barely a year after it was founded, the leadership of the party has managed to strengthen the party's base in all the 10 regional capitals and the 230 constituencies across the length and breadth of the country.Unlike some existing political parties, which do not have physical structures and executives in all the 10 regions, let alone the 230 constituencies, the DFP has offices in two-thirds of the 230 constituencies.
At the remaining one-third of those constituencies without physical presence, the party has executives and registered members who hold meetings within time.The leadership of the party has thus intensified their efforts to strengthen the base of the party in those constituencies in order to increase its support base.Considering the work done so far, Dr. Obed Asamoah has said that the party was leaving no stone unturned to realise its dream of winning the upcoming elections.