The General Secretary hopeful of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Iddrisu Musah Superior, has given assurance that when given the nod, his administration would ensure the provision of GH¢ 10.000.00 business development capital package for each of four thousand, six hundred and seventy-five (4,675) NPP constituency executive in two hundred and seventy-five constituencies (275) in the country.
According to him, the GH¢ 10,000.00 business capital package will be made available to every constituency officer of the NPP in Ghana under the Business Development Directorate of the NPP to be set up when elected as the new General Secretary in the upcoming NPP national executives election which scheduled to take off on 15 July to 17 July 2022 in Accra.
He bemoaned that credible statistics available to him after he toured most of the constituencies within the country indicate that “sadly, 61% of the NPP 4,675 constituency executives in the previous term of office from 2018 to 2022 were either unemployed or not in any meaningful business.”
Mr. Musah who is very passionate about the development of the members and supporters of the NPP stated that the NPP constituency officers have no social authority to conduct party work more efficiently and effectively in their various constituencies across the country.
The lack of these viable economic empowerment initiatives under the NPP administration, according to him, has informed his decision to intend to design this economic empowerment program for the party’s constituency executives, adding that the same economic empowerment program will progressively be done for the NPP electoral area coordinators of 5000 officers across the country when given the nod.
Speaking in an interview with journalists in Accra, the General Secretary hopeful of the NPP reiterated his plans to establish a viable Business Development Unit within the NPP to give business support to the hard-working members of the party, particularly those in the grassroots levels country when the delegates vote for him massively to win the slot.
According to Mr. Musah, who doubles as a former Mayor for Tamale and the current Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Forestry Commission, he has the vision to set up an effective Business Development Unit of the party which would serve as one of the NPP grassroots members empowerment initiatives.
When asked what are his aims to become the General Secretary of the NPP, he stressed that his priority is to work closely with NPP’s officers, especially the constituency, polling station executives, and electoral area coordinators who are the icons of the NPP.
“When given the nod by the delegates to become the General Secretary of the NPP, my number one priority is to find a way to work with these officers and other key members of the party at the grassroots levels so that we can find ways to bring before them viable economic activities.
“…so that when they are living well in their lives as human beings l can assure you that they can focus and sacrifice their lives to work for the party well, so this will be my number one objective,” Mr. Musah assured.
“How do l achieve these aims. To achieve this means that l should be pushing this agenda through the National Executives Steering Committee of the NPP so that they support the establishment of the business development unit,” he noted
He stressed that “Article 2 clause 14 of the constitution of the NPP support the competition and business entrepreneurship and enterprise. So it is left we us how we are going to open the market. And that when we get the market open and we can help our people and l are assure you can recall that we are the property owing democratic political party.
He indicated that “the owing property democratic means we are going to work to introduce measures and policies at the government so that every Ghanaian citizen can gain some economic authority to be able to gain social authority and own buildings and do well in business.
“So if we are talking like this and we deliver that in the government how can that as the political party we don’t have effective structures in place to look after our party people and that is what l would be proposing for the establishment of the business development unit.
Ithat the business development unit is going to work as the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) policies of then ANC leaders Nelson Mandela when he got money and mobilized the senior members of the ANC and gave them these monies for them to start businesses.
He noted that “As we speak, the President of ANC also enjoys this financial facility.
According to him, former President Nelson Mandela was one of the beneficiaries of the BEE policies of ANC, which gave power to the people, people say they are one of the most successful businessmen in Africa.
He mentioned that “That what the NPP to be doing, so his business development unit is going to be established and we going to get people who understand business and they are doing well.
He said that the unit will solely be responsible for working with the NPP officers and managing them and supporting them to do well in their businesses adding that he would decentralize business ownership and control completely through focused policies of black economic empowerment.
He maintained that “we know that when our party officers become successful in business, we will have what we called the positive cascading effect so that it will go down the ground.
Musah Superior criticized the present management of the NPP for the apathy and despondency within the party and referred the party delegates to the July Congress to look at the plans and insurance policies of all of the aspirants and vote for the precise folks.
He stated if the party provides the mandate to incompetent folks, the party will endure and won’t be able to win the 2024 polls.
According to him, the current leadership of the governing NPP especially, its general secretary has mismanaged the party intricately.
The General Secretary hopeful noted that the party has become so weak because of mismanagement by the incumbent General secretary, therefore making the NPP struggle.
According to him, the party’s secretary has made the deficiency of the party system very weak and argued that the delegates should select him (Musah Superior) to poise sufficient management to the agenda of the party to win the 2024 elections.
Mr. Musah Superior stressed that, through his term, he will address the key challenges in the current state of the party by empowering the party members, solving the apathy in the party, and initiating strategic plans for members from the bottom to the top in the party.
The General Secretary Hopeful believed to initiate a welfare plan and under his leadership will also initiate a party office infrastructure plan in all the constituencies in the country, saying, the party has competent people but has people that can excel as the pillars of the party.
He disclosed that he will set up a scheme that will empower the 1st and 2nd vice-chairmen of the the the the party at the Regions and constituency levels with other positions that will pool resources for the economic management of the party.
When asked why he said the NPP is weak, Mr. Musah provided evidence to support his claim. He questioned that “how comes that this government is doing so well and yet the structures and foundations of the ruling NPP are weak.”
He was of the view that if you go around the country, the level of apathy and despondency in the NPP is overwhelming, especially in e like the Volta Region where the NPP becomes so booster to the party in the way.
“Being an NPP member in the Volta Region, is such a huge thing and l congratulated all supporters and members in the region even though, it does not like the NPP is doing well in the Volta Region, they are people in the Volta Region who are working single day for the party, our polling station executives, electoral area coordinators, constituency executives, regional executives and other key members of the NPP who are currently working for this party.
“Yet there is no plan for them, how can you be in the government that is being produced by the political party, and yet the party has failed so miserably the last five years to be able to put a plan in place to empower the supporters and members of the NPP. This is very sad,” he lamented.
Additionally, he pointed out that “the reason why our people are not excited is because of the inability of the current national officers of the NPP to be able to produce a plan that would work with their party officers around the country.
He said the only way the NPP can run an efficient and effective campaign in the 2024 general elections is to empower the people of the NPP across the country, adding that “The most efficient way to organize is empowerment.
“We all know the mantra the first President of the Republic of Ghana, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah said some time ago that organizations decide everything, it is no longer relevant now because organizations decide nothing.”
“It is empowerment and that is why I am encouraging this party that looks, we should modernize it. I want us to manage this party along with modernization so that we can lobby. It is not illegal to lobby for your party people to get jobs.
“These people struggle, work so hard for this party, and today every constituency you go, people are angry, people are bitter, there is acrimony, and the reasons these things are happening is because of the abysmal failure of the party to plan for them,” Superior said.
“l think that we should be forward-looking, we should be progressive, we should find a way to be able to design a project or program so that we can empower our party people generally,” he said.
He added that “If you have a national officer or a regional officer, or a constituency officer, or a polling station executive living in the community without some level of social authority, the person is not powerful to be able to galvanize the people to be able to support the party, so social authority is significant.
He pointed out that the only you can achieve social authority is to be able to achieve the economy of the social authority.
Mr. Musah, therefore reiterated his assurance to party supporters that he will lobby for jobs for them if he wins, adding that the current leadership of the party has failed members when it comes to seeking their welfare.
ashantibiz
