Ntim joins NPP chairmanship race

…With renewed spirit of unity
Posted: The Chronicle |Thursday, January 07, 2010

By Charles Takyi - Boadu

A former Vice Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Stephen Ayensu Ntim has indicated his preparedness to contest for the National Chairmanship position in the upcoming National Delegates conference of the party.
He is going into the race with a renewed spirit of commitment to help unite the party and bring it back to power in the year 2012, when President Mills and his ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) 4year mandate comes to an end.

After filing his nomination papers at the party’s Asylum Down headquarters in Accra, Mr. Ntim told reporters that he is going into the race with a renewed sense of unity and purpose. For this reason, he has asked all members of the party to throw their weight behind him in bringing the party together to wrestle power from the NDC in the next elections.

“I want to ensure that unity prevails before we go to congress to elect our flagbearer defying any factionalism”, he said, stressing on the fact that “I will maintain my neutrality.” Asked how he intends to help the party come to power, Mr. Ntim who used to be the party’s Vice Chairman said “I have chewed calabash before so if I tell you I want to chew crab, you must believe me.”

During his time as the Vice Chairman, Mr. Ntim said they managed to add 27 Parliamentary seats to those occupied by the NPP and, therefore, banking his hopes on his achievements and significant contributions to the party to win the upcoming Chairmanship race.

Though the names of other party stalwarts including Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, Sammy Crabbe and a host of others have come up as likely contenders for the Chairmanship position of the NPP, Mr. Ntim said, he was not the least bothered since the upcoming elections is not merely about high profile names.

Instead, he said it has to do with an individual’s achievements and contributions to the party and how he or she can help win power from the party from the incumbent NDC in 2012. He therefore expressed hope and optimism that he would come up tops among his equals in the impending elections, which has all to do with credentials. “My mission is to bring back the party to power and I will do this by uniting the seeming factionalism in the party in order to win power. This I promise to do”, he said.

When elected to the position of National Chairman, Mr. Ntim promised to make the party’s Constitution operate freely without any form of interference or discrimination against any individual or group of persons since it breeds disunity in the party.

Administrative Officer at the party headquarters, Mr. Antwi Adjei, who received the aspirant’s nomination papers together with an amount of GHC 5,000.00 as the filing fee and other relevant documents required by the party’s Constitution.