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Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has posited that "over-confidence, complacency and personality cult led to the New Patriotic Party (NPPs) defeat in the 2008 General Elections." Addressing nearly 4,500 delegates who have gathered at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi for the historic conference to elect the party�s national officers, ex-President Kufuor therefore advised party activists and supporters alike to be guided by that experience and not repeat that political slip-up. �We�ve given the people of Ghana the taste of good governance. The only trouble is that somehow, somehow, we allowed power to slip through our fingers in the election of 2008�I do not blame anybody but ourselves. It seems complacency got the better of us�Over-confidence undermined us�And then we also succumbed to what I�ll describe as the emerging of personality cults�Pro-Kufuor camp, pro-Nana camp, pro-Alan camp. This must stop. That was what caused us the last elections,� ex-president Kufuor said. The conference, which is being chaired by outgoing party chairman, Peter Mac Manu, is on the theme "Reflect, Rebuild and Recapture Power in 2012." This is the first national gathering of delegates of the NPP since the party enlarged its electoral college in August last year. Thirty-two candidates have so far filed their nominations and been vetted to contest for eight national positions at the congress. The positions include the Chairman, First and Second Vice Chairmen, General Secretary, National Organiser, Youth Organiser, Women�s Organiser and Treasurer. Five persons are vying for the position of National Chairman, with a former First National Vice-Chairman, Mr Stephen Ntim, and a former Minister of Tourism, Mr. Jake Otanka Obetsebi-Lamptey, emerging as front runners. Ex-President Kufuor also touched on the need for a concerted effort to avoid anything that will divide the ranks of the party, arguing that the NPP has a duty to Ghana must not do anything amongst themselves to disappoint Ghana. �All of us, from the out-going National Executives through the aspirants�., through the general rank and file of the party, must not do anything that will divide us�.We need support from non-NDC members� I told you the people of Ghana are looking up to us. We�ve a duty to Ghana. We must not do anything among our ranks to disappoint Ghana� Mr. Kufuor implored the delegates to vote according to their conscience and chose Executives based on competence. He described himself as not indispensable to the party and urged members of the party to reject him, like any other person if they are conceived as constituting themselves into a cult. �John Kufuor was privileged to have become the leader of the party and to win the presidency�.even as I stand here before you, if i�begin to behave like a �one-man thousand�, I say reject me. If it should be my brother or my son�reject him, because personality cult will destroy this party of democracy,� he stated.