<<Print>>

Three aspirants have filed their nominations to contest the position of Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Odododiodoo Constituency.

They are Mr Space Clottey, who pulled out of the race at the last minute during the 2014 contest, the incumbent, Mr Paul Oblie Laryea, and Mr Daniel Nii Okai, a former Chairman who spent three terms in that position.

Mr Joseph Otoo, the Odododiodoo Constituency Secretary, disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Thursday.

Mr Okai, known in political circles as ‘Toza,” said he joined the NDC when it was founded in 1992 and became the first Constituency Organiser until 2001 when he was elected the Odododiodoo Constituency Chairman.

He said he did not only master-mind strategies to recapture the seat in the 2004 General Election but also co-ordinated the campaign to retain it in the 2005 Bye-Elections following the demise of the Member of Parliament, Ayikwei Mankattah.

Still under his chairmanship, the NDC won the 2008 Election and maintained the seat in the 2012 Poll to consolidate Odododiodoo as a safe seat for the NDC, Mr Okai said.

“It is this level of experience that I want to put at the disposal of the NDC.’’

He stressed the need for unity and hard work in the Party adding; “now is the time to unite and organise more than never before to thwart the schemes of the New Patriotic Party to sow seeds of discord within the NDC’’.

Mr Okai expressed concern about the fortunes of the NDC in the Constituency and said his aim was to resuscitate the Party to make it more attractive.

He observed that even though the NDC maintained the seat in 2016, it could have done better with the results.

Mr Okai noted that while the Party’s votes had been increasing steadily since 2004, it dropped in the 2016 Election with about 10,000 votes.

“This downward trend is what I want to reverse,’’ Mr Okai said, and attributed the dwindling fortunes to “the yawning gap between the Party hierarchy and the grassroots’’.

He promised to promote a two-way channel of communication between the top and the rank and file while ensuring “a well-oiled and coordinated functional party structure’’.