Dr Lartey Leads GCPP Into 2016 Elections

More than 2,500 delegates of the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) have affirmed their 2012 presidential candidate, Dr Henry Lartey, to lead the party as the National Chairman and flag bearer for the 2016 elections at the party�s national delegate�s congress in Kumasi. At the Apatakese Section of the Centre for National Culture (CNC) in Kumasi last Saturday, seven national executive members and their 14 deputies were all affirmed through acclamation, supervised by the Ashanti Regional Director of the Electoral Commission (EC), Mr Paul Boateng. Officers Those affirmed included the First Vice-Chairman, John Amekah; the Second Vice-Chairman, Adelina Denis; the General Secretary, Ato Dadzie; the National Treasurer, Quarshie Fleischer Lartey; the National Organiser, George Amoah, and the National Women�s Organiser, Sandra Boateng. Others were the National Educational Secretary, Rossevel Annea Kofi, and the National Youth Organiser, Jude Bamba. Attendance at the congress was in sharp contrast to the situation in 2008 when there was an empty auditorium at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), the venue for that year�s congress. The GCPP, in its usual unique way of holding congresses, invited and honoured two renowned Jamaican musicians � the Rastafarian poet, musician and actor, Allan Hope, popularly known as Mutabaruka, and Patrick George Anthony Barrett, known in music circles as Tony Rebel. Security Unarmed police officers and men detailed to provide security for the congress had nothing to worry about due to the peaceful manner in which the delegates and supporters went about their duties. Solidarity message The Leader of the United Front Party (UFP), Nana Agyenim Boateng, also known as Gyataba, commended the GCPP for organising that impressive congress and urged the party to embark on soul searching to find solutions to the issues that militated against it. Flag bearer An elated Dr Lartey assured Ghanaians that if the party was given the nod in 2016, it would form a government with �Domestication�� as its prime policy. Addressing the charged delegates, who responded intermittently with the GCPP slogan, �Pinsooo�, Dr Lartey reiterated the party�s policy for �Domestication�� which, he said, still remained the panacea to the problems facing the country. He noted that a GCPP government would offer properly tailored support and technical assistance to farmers, artisans, small and medium enterprises to be competitive through value addition to their products, while at the same time encouraging Ghanaians to purchase those products. That, he explained, would build their capacities and expand their base to be able to offer more Ghanaians employment opportunities, while at the same time increasing revenue for the state through revenue collection. Solar Dr Lartey, a renowned exporter of fruits and vegetables to Europe and Asia, said his administration would offer Ghanaian experts and artisans the opportunity and support to develop solar panels for export and also generate enough energy for industrial and domestic use. He explained that the ultimate aim was to make Ghana a net exporter of solar energy, infrastructure and power to the entire world, a move which, he said, could yield the needed revenue to expand and improve sectors such as roads, education, health and security.