NPP Not United Yet � Ben Ephson

An election watcher, Ben Ephson, says the just ended delegates� conference of the NPP in Kumasi, which many have touted as peaceful and successful cannot pass for a united party. He said there are certain elements that showed up during the conference which point to the fact that the NPP, as a party, would have to do more to win the trust and confidence of the entire membership. �The immediate problem would be between now and the flag-bearership, they would have to involve, reach out and be transparent in all their dealings so that they are not accused of allegedly being one thing or the other to frustrate the other faction,� Mr Ephson told Joy News Elvis Adjetey on Sunday. The pollster cited as an example comments made by former President John Kufuor and Nana Akufo-Addo on factionalism. �Even before voting, if you realized, there were even divergent views as to whether this factionalism is hurting the party. Ex-president Kufuor cautioned that the personality called factionalism were hurting the party. �But when your station (Joy FM) interviewed Nana Addo, he said there was nothing like that. Clearly we can see divergent views.� He however noted that factionalism in itself is not that bad, but how it has been allowed to fester in the NPP leaves much to be desired. �Jake as the new chairman, he had to work hard to be able to assuage the feelings. I must add that the 4,300 plus delegates are only a tiny fraction of the 115,000 delegates who will eventually elect the flag-bearer for the 2012 elections for the party.� Asked about the implications of one side being elected into the executive, as factionalism prevails in the party, Mr Ephson underscored in what he described as �a bit of tricky balance� where their decisions would not be regarded as being in good faith, citing the rejection of Lord Commey as the master of ceremony for Saturday�s event with the backdrop of what happened in Legon 2007 during the election of the party�s flag-bearer. Mr Ephson, who is also the Editor of the Daily Dispatch, however congratulated the party for expanding its electoral college. Maame Dokono: NPP Needs Unity To Face NDC Madam Grace Omaboe, aka Maame Dokono, is calling for unity among the rank and file of the New Patriotic Party to enable it wrest power from the ruling National Democratic Congress. She said with unity, victory in 2012 will be the party�s for the taking, and it therefore behooved every member of the party to rally behind its elected leaders to win back political power and to run the salvage the country. Maame Dokono was speaking to Oman FM at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi ahead of the party�s election of national officers at the national delegates conference. She said in unity lay the party�s strength, while bickering and petty differences will only work against the desires of the party. Asked what qualities she would look for in a leader, Maame Dokono said the leader must be courageous, knowledgeable, visionary and unifying to unite the entire nation � one who will live true to his word if he claimed to be a father for all and not a partial one. She said under President Kufuor, Ghana entrenched democracy and the nation became an African example, however, the situation is no longer desirable and prayed that God would install a good leader for the NPP so Ghanaians would have schools for their children, have access to good drinking water, health care, accommodation, and where electricity bills would be bearable.