Effah-Dartey Launches Bid to Become General Secretary of NPP

Posted:The Chronicle |Monday, 6 October 2009


By Charles Takyi-Boadu

Captain Nkrabeah Effah-Dartey (Rtd.), a former deputy Minister of Interior has advised the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) to be cautious with the decision they take now, to avoid jeopardizing the chances of the party in winning the 2012 general elections.

"You do not need the brain of a Bishop to be able to predict that the NDC in power will do everything under the sun to ensure that they do not lose in 2012," he said.

The 56 year old retired Army officer and former Member of Parliament (MP) for Berekum Constituency in the Brong Ahafo region was speaking at a news conference in Accra, yesterday, to officially announce his intention to contest the NPP General Secretary position.

Effah-Dartey, who was flanked by his bodyguards, said "the most important exercise is to reorganize our party into a fighting machine, to repackage ourselves as an electioneering organization, refocus all our efforts into a vote-winning movement."

In order to do that, the enthusiastic former Army Officer stressed the urgent need for the NPP to take a second look at its leadership, right from the polling stations through to the constituency levels, and the regional structures to the highest echelons of national leadership.

For this reason, he has charged the rank and file of the party to pick men and women who would give total sacrifice of energy and time to work for the success of the party.

"Make no mistake; the party needs everybody; the serial callers, radio station hosts, the print media, foot soldiers in the wards, polling stations, areas and constituencies", he noted, adding "we need down to earth organizers and above all, we desperately need seasoned and thoroughly experienced elders who from the balconies of their residencies can give central direction and effective advice."

This, he said, was because the recent bye elections in Akwatia and Chereponi are clear signals of the state of the NPP today. Whilst admitting the existence of deep cracks in the party, Effah-Dartey indicated that the upcoming contest for national positions in the party is neither a battle nor a choice between individual personalities.

For this reason, he emphasized - "what we should concentrate on is to correctly profile the appropriate characteristics of the person we need to occupy the particular office, and then look for the person who fits that description."

For the NPP to win the 2012 general elections, he said the party needed individuals and group of persons who could run an effective operational national Secretariat, run the party nationally and be the face of the party.

As a former Captain of an infantry who commanded men under arms, besides establishing and running a national secretariat for the Petroleum Retailers Association from 1987, until the year 2001 when he entered Parliament, Effah-Dartey said "I can say without fear of contradiction that running a secretariat with staff and equipment under me should not be a mesmerizing one for me."

With the experience that he gained in Parliament for the past 8years, including his privileged position as a court-going Barrister at law, the retired Army officer noted - "by God's grace, I am in a position to discharge that responsibility effectively." "I do not think that I am wearing borrowed robes when I say that I have paid my dues as a member of the party", he noted.

Effah-Dartey did not fail to pay glowing tribute to the founding fathers of the Dankwa-Busia-Dombo tradition, which had metamorphosed into the NPP, including the likes of Professor Kofi Abrefa Busia, and commended people like B.J Da Rocha, Agyenim Boateng, Dan Botwe and Nana Ohene-Ntow, some of who have occupied, and continue to occupy key positions in the party.

He thus invited all former and current MPs to close their ranks and join him in rendering what he described as 'solid service' to the party for the next four years. Effah-Dartey could not end without treating his guest of journalists and good-old Chairman of the Nasara Club of the NPP, Alhaji Maiga, to an interesting rendition of his now famous 'matwen awurade enim' signature-tune.