National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Kofi Portuphy has indicated that the party is gearing up to kick the ruling government out of power and stage a comeback in the 2020 polls.
Speaking to GHOne TV, Mr. Portuphy indicated that the party among other things is focusing on setting its foundations right and correcting previous errors that may have cost them victory in the 2016 polls.
“Now our concern is to register our members, and organize our branch elections, and build a solid foundation”
Touching on candidates who have so far declared their intentions of leading the party in the next presidential election, Mr. Portuphy said the competition only shows how many competent leaders the party can boast of.
According to him, the support of party members and the Ghanaian populace for these individuals will go a long way to safeguard the party another slot in government in 2020.
“All the names mentioned are all very competent, they could lead this party, with our support, we could move this party from opposition into government”, he said.
Several persons have come forward in recent times to declare their intentions to contest for the flagbearership of the NDC. Former boss of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Sylvester Mensah, former Vice-Chancellor of the University for Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), Prof. Joshua Alabi, former Trades and Industry Minister, Dr. Ekow Spio Garbrah, former Member of Parliament for La Dadekotopon Nii Amasah Namoale, Member of Parliament for Nadowli Kaleo, Alban Bagbin and Stephen Atubiga are among the list of persons who are interested in contesting.
Speaking on the issue at the NDC Unity Walk in Cape Coast over the weekend, Former President John Mahama who led the party to the polls in 2016 maintained that he is unperturbed by the competition. According to him,
“I know there are several of my colleagues who have declared an intention to run. They are all party members and they are eligible to stand.
“Let me caution: after the flag bearer contest, whoever wins, all of us will have to rally round to support that person. And, so, please let us not go personal, let us not insult each other because all of us belong to the same NDC family, and, so, if anybody has declared to stand it is his right to do so. Don’t insult him because at the end of the process, all of us need to come together to support whoever wins as the flagbearer.”
“Spio was my boss and later became my minister; Joshua was my colleague in Parliament and later became the Vice Chancellor of UPSA, Sylvester was the NHIS Boss and later a Presidential Staffer… It’s not now that they want to contest that I will have a problem with them. Atubiga is even my favorite Presidential candidate. Let us all work in unity for victory 2020,” he added.
