<<Print>>

Joe Ghartey, Member of Parliament for Essikado Ketan and his colleague Kofi Osei-Ameyaw, MP for Asuogyaman have debunked claims that they were coerced to step down for Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo, two time flagbearer of the opposition, New Patriotic Party (NPP). �We were not forced to support Nana Addo,� they both told delegates in the Central Region. The two former NPP presidential aspirants disclosed this when they joined Nana Addo to thank the 54 delegates from the Central Region, who gave him the 94% endorsement at the NPP�s super delegates congress held in August. Addressing the delegates, Mr. Osei-Ameyaw stressed that �it is not Nana Akufo-Addo who told me to step down and support him - I want everyone to get it clear. After the August 31 contest, I had 11 days of spiritual introspection with my God and that allowed me to come to the conclusion that I had to support no one but Nana Akufo-Addo. Please, it is never true that Akufo-Addo is asking people to step down for him. It is propaganda that some people are waging against Nana Akufo-Addo and I am urging all of you gathered here not to pay any heed to it.� The Asuogyaman MP reiterated that his decision to support Nana Akufo-Addo was also premised on the fact that delegates of the party had made it emphatically clear that it was Nana Akufo-Addo they wanted to lead NPP. Adding his voice to his colleague, Joe Ghartey stressed that after the August 31 election, he made some important calls to members of his campaign team to ascertain the way forward. He explained that by September 1, he together with members of his team had all reached an agreement to step down and not contest the October 18 primary �That�s why I was with him in Tarwka on Monday. We are doing politics not for personal interests. You must be motivated by a higher calling, a call to duty that allows you to take certain decisions at certain times. That is why I am here today with Nana Akufo-Addo. We believe that this party is destined to take Ghana to a better place� We started this party with no expectation, we continue in this party with no expectation. The only expectation is that the NPP will save Ghana, and make this country a better place,� he said.