The New Patriotic Party (NPP)Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Mr Kennedy Agyapong, has called for the inclusion of more women, who are critical influencers, as the party strengthen its house -to -house campaigns.
He also told the delegates at Essikado -Ketan to desist from being complacent ahead of the December 7 elections.
“Victory is not going to come easily. In 2020, Joe Ghartey won with about 26,000 votes while the NDC candidate polled about 24,000 votes, so, please, do not be complacent. You need to be creative and re-strategise for the task ahead of the NPP, he said.’’
Mr Agyapong made the call at the campaign launch of the Essikado-Ketan constituency of the NPP, over the weekend at Essikado, to step- up momentum of the Parliamentary Candidate, Charles Cromwell Onuawonto Bissue.
The event also saw the inauguration of the Essikado-Ketan 2024 campaign team, led by the Member of Parliament, Mr Joe Ghartey.
Mr Agyapong spoke about reports of some divisions between Mr Bissue and party executives and urged that they were united and worked as a team for the ‘battle” ahead on December 7.
He believed that unity was critical for victory at Essikado– Ketan, adding “we need to work hard so that victory will be ours.”
“The NDC candidate is coming back, and it is no joke, so do not say it is your stronghold and assume that you have already won the elections. The Parliamentary Candidate, Bissue, must unite with executives and work hard, else our efforts will be in vain,” the Assin Central MP added.
Mr Agyapong again advised Mr Bissue to be a servant leader in dealing with the party executives and people in the constituency, no matter their political affiliations, to build bridges.
He charged “You should not be complacent with the crowd you see here today and conclude we have won. Do not underestimate these elections. Step up your game. Remain focused, open your doors to everybody and win for Bissue and Bawumia. The journey of hard work, sacrifices has just started, and it is possible.”
The Member of Parliament for Essikado- Ketan, Mr Joe Ghartey celebrated his 20 years of service to the constituency and leaving the baton to Mr Bissue.
The NPP, he argued, needed to increase its numbers in Parliament to enable their party to prosecute its policies and programmes.
“I have decided not to contest again, and I know Bissue would perform better than my tenure. I am happy and proud to be your servant. The spirit must come back again, and we will win these elections.
This election is about the truth and not insults. We will take our records against that of anybody,” Ghartey added.
He appealed to the party faithful to desist from undermining Mr Bissue, but pray for his victory on December 7.
Mr Bissue, for his part, reiterated the calls for unity to drive campaigns for victory “so that we Essikado-Ketan must grow and become bigger with NPP promoting development of Ghana.”
He pledged, “I dare not fail. I need your support to build on the legacy of Mr Joe Ghartey but we need to close our ranks. If we are divided, people will not listen to our messages. I have come to serve Essikado-Ketan with humility.”
The constituency chairperson, Fred Afful, also urged party faithful to put aside all sectional interest and focused on the task ahead adding “we’re not done yet; we need to break the eight.”