The General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress has declared that the party is not for sale.
This follows what has been described as lavish and extravagant campaigning style embarked on by some aspirants.
The ruling party has slated its national delegate’s congress for October 24 to 26 to elect national executives to steer the affairs of the party for the next four years.
But Johnson Asiedu Nketsiah has urged delegates to reject and punish those enticing them with cash for votes and retain incumbent Dr Kwabena Adjei who comes up against Alhaji Huudu Yahya, Kofi Portuphy and Dan Abodakpi.
Hundreds of party supporters thronged the KAMA Conference centre in Accra, venue for the launch of the reelection bid of the man who led the party to win two successive national elections in 2005 and 2010.
Speaking at the launch, General Secretary of the NDC, Asiedu Nketsiah popularly known as General Mosquito said: “On my way here somebody said, ‘are you going to endorse Dr Kwabena Adjei?’ I said, Dr Kwabena Adjei doesn’t need my endorsement, he is an endorsement in himself, because your records will speak for you.”
He however assured that his doors are open to any candidate who wants to get his endorsement but was quick to add that “I will be available but I will come with the records I know about that person and then relate those records.”
General Mosquito who will be going into the polls unopposed also urged delegates of the party to ensure they vote for candidates who are willing to work and hinted that he will step down as the party’s Chief Scribe if the composition of the current National Executives is seriously altered after the elections.
“Even though nobody is contesting me, don’t take me for granted, at the end of the day I’ll always have to decide with my family whether to contest or not to contest and it depends on people you put in the team. If I know that, that team will be a useless endeavour, I’ll not waste my time” he said.
He also urged the delegates to reward those who are loyal to the cause of the NDC.
“The party at this stage needs dedicated and loyal leaders to retain it in power come 2016…..At the end of the day, the exercise we are engaging in is to find the right kind of people to run the affairs of the party so we can retain power. It is not about how much you can give to delegates, it is not about what you expect to receive from them but who can help us retain power.”
When he took his turn to address party faithful, Dr Kwabena Adjei urged delegates to retain him as National Chair since his loyalty and hard work in the party is not in doubt.
He also took the opportunity to respond to critics who describe him as “soft” and not having enormous clout in the Flagstaff house.
“The President by our constitution, wields very wide executive powers, anybody who comes to tell you that I(Dr Kwabena Adjei) am so soft that he has to be voted into power to control the President and his Ministers is telling you that there’s danger ahead, the crisis that will ensue you will never see it in this country” he said.
Dr Adjei also added that “If people come to tell you am soft, they should be voted into power so that they can control the President, it’s very very wrong. Not only wrong, it’s a recipe for disaster, political disaster.”
