A leading contender in the flagbearership race of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, at the weekend paid a courtesy call on the Founder of the party, Former President Jerry John Rawlings at his residence in Accra.
The visit by Dr Spio-Garbrah and some members of his campaign team, among other things, was aimed at formally announcing to the former President his intention to seek the mandate of the electorate to lead the party in the 2020 General Elections and to ask for the founder’s blessings in the race.
He used the opportunity to inform former President Rawlings about the official launch of his campaign bid on Tuesday, October, 16 to lead the NDC into the 2020 elections.
Receiving the team, former President Rawlings spoke of the need to build a strong leadership front for the party beginning with the national executives by electing “candidates who can stand up to executive misbehaviour.”
The former President welcomed Dr Spio-Garbrah’s decision to contest to lead the party and prayed that a “better” person emerges winner in the flagbearership race to provide the kind of leadership that the party needs.”
He further cautioned the NDC as a whole not to underestimate the resolve of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government to cling on to power, saying, “there is no way the NPP would want to lose power after a single term.”
Dr. Spio-Garbrah bemoaned the wrongful perception of corruption that has been forcefully foisted on the NDC and called for a new, refreshed and trustworthy leadership to rebrand the party to change that negative image.
He further reiterated his call for the Kwesi Botchway Report or relevant portions of it to be availed to interested groups in the party in the spirit of openness and fairness.
According to him, the decision to hide the report from members of the party “deprives members the opportunity to know what went wrong in 2016 and for leadership of the party to correct the mistakes we might have made in a lead up to and during the elections.”
Dr. Spio-Garbrah explained that he had a seven-point agenda, which when given the opportunity to lead the party, will reinvigorate and reposition the party for the 2020 elections.
This seven-point agenda, include, strengthening the youth wing of the party through education and jobs creation; creating a credit union for all NDC members; and creating a welfare fund to support the needy in the party.”
“Through this programme, we hope to empower the youth of the party and help the needy thereby, making the party more attractive to the general populace” he added.
