Democratically, anybody in the party who is worth his salt can rear his head up for the Chairmanship; but politically, not everybody is cut out to be chairman in the face of the 2020 electoral hurdle. It takes a special kind of person, someone tough, smart, competent, dynamic leadership qualities, and driven, just to run for the job. It takes still more talent, experience and character to hold up the pressure and assure the rank and file of the party a landslide victory in 2020 elections.

As a party, we cannot afford to mortgage the party’s victorious future to a leader who has not been tried and tested at the national level, lacks practical experience of national chairmanship and lacks the hallmarks of quality and dynamic leadership. Freddie W. A. Blay is the best candidate to lead the performance because, he exhibits strength of character, proven leadership skills, passion, general maturity, wisdom, common sense, trustworthiness, reliability, creativity, competence, capacity and capability, a symbol of hope for NPP’s victory.

What makes Freddie Blay the right man at the right time for NPP chairmanship?

Proven Track Record and Tried and Tested.

Freddie Blay is the sole formidable, experienced and credible candidate for NPP Chairman. His unblemished and incomparable track record is no news. The former Ellembelle lawmaker has gotten the skill and experience of both performance and of leading the performance.
Under his able tutelage, the NPP;
1. Became the first opposition party to convincingly win power in the first round in Ghana.
2. Became the first political party to unseat an incumbent president in an election in Ghana
3. bagged its biggest political victory
4.Has become the most united and vibrant political party in Ghana today
5. Won six regions in 2016 as against two regions in the preceding elections.
6. Grabbed 169 parliamentary seats as against 123 in 2012 elections.
These indisputable records attained by him just as Acting Chairman is what makes Freddie’s candidacy rather unchallengeable.

Capacity to normalise seeming factionalism in NPP

Well, any avid follower of global politics will attest that all around the world, most political parties typically have factions within them. The pendulum will often swing from one side of the party to the other over the course of time. The only difference is the healthiness of such intra-party factionalism. For instance, the Democratic and Republican parties of the US have their Liberal and Moderate wings. Anytime one side wins control over the party, the other faction will often feel alienated but usually soldier along until its time comes. The NPP, prior to the 2016 elections, seemingly had factions and internal cracks. This factionalism triggered bitter bickering amongst some heavyweights of the party. It is noteworthy that after his assumption as the Acting Chairman, he worked hand-in-glove to normalise the storm that bedeviled the party after the Tamale Congress. Fast forward to today, NPP is clearly the most united party in the Ghanaian political landscape. Here, Blay was a liaison officer and that smacks of his dynamism as a chairman.
Appealing personality

Freddie W. A. Blay is admired by many NPP members for his affable nature. He is known to be a good listener.
Indeed, the delegates of the party will have to elect a chairman with an appealing personality and someone who has an air of charisma around him. That is where Freddie Blay fits in. With my close working with Chairman Blay, I can vouch that is the characterisation of Freddie W. A. Blay.

The argument as to who is the right person to become NPP chairman will continue. We reason in line with the opinion that, even though our party has always welcomed competition for office as a bedrock principle, well-meaning Ghanaians and the overwhelming majority of our rank and file hope that this time around the competition will be conducted in a way that will facilitate reconciliation among competitors and their supporters, thereby reinforcing the unity of our party. Ghanaians want to see a strong united front amongst us so that we can offer them yet again the vibrant, energetic and visionary leadership they are yearning for, by maintaining our party in government come 2020 elections.

We as inhabitants of Zongo will stick our necks out for Freddie Blay. We also implore NPP members to let our arguments be cogent and not destructive. We urge the NPP’s Council of Elders, the National Executive Committee , Regional and Constituency Branches, the Party’s Parliamentary group and all the caucuses as well as Party faithfuls whose duty is to protect, nurture and defend the beliefs, ideology and visions of the great founding fathers of the party to as a matter of great concern support my idea of endorsing the Chairmanship bid of Freddie W. A. Blay to absolutely ensure NPP’S victory in 2020.
By AMMAR ADAM GALADIMA.

The post Maintaining Freddie Blay; A boost for NPP’s political arsenal appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The board says the police have been alerted and are keeping surveillance in the camps.

Even though the political upheaval in Cote D’Ivoire has ended, there are 9,631 Ivorian refugees and 1,077 asylum seekers living in camps at Ampain in the Western Region, Egyeikrom in the Central Region and Fetentaa in the Brong Ahafo Region.

The Programmes Coordinator of the Board, Tettey Padi, talking to Citi News explained that they had received a proposal from the World Food Programme, which directed that a portion of food rations was “going to be replaced with cash.”

He said the complaints and threats of mayhem were borne from “misinformation,”  on the part of the refugees, who believed that the refugee board and the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) had “kept some of the money to be used for feeding them.”

Mr. Padi, however, added that “there was nothing to worry about” and  that the board was keeping an eye on the situation and would do everything possible to avoid any disturbances.

By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Ivorian refugee situation under control-Refugee Board appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

She said 18,709 were refugees from 20 countries with the overall majority from ECOWAS countries, while the other 2,094 were asylum seekers.

Speaking during the celebration of this year’s World Refugee Day in Accra, she said statistics from the UNHCR annual global trends report also indicated that the number of refugees, asylum seekers, and internally displaced people worldwide had for the first time in the post-world War 11 era, exceeded 50 million people.

“According to the report, 51.2 million people were forcibly displayed at the end of 2013, fully six million more than the 45.2 million reported in 2012”, she said.

Ms Kapaya attributed the increase to mainly the war in Syria, which at the end of last year had forced 2.5 million people into becoming refugees and made 6.5 million internally displaced.

She said major new displacements were also recorded in Africa, notably in the Central African Republic and South Sudan.

UNHCR Representative in Ghana expressed her appreciation to Ghana for living up to her international obligations by accepting refugees and asylum seekers since the early 1990s with the influx of over 40,000 Liberian refugees.

Ms Kapaya said the UNHCR had not only been working to provide humanitarian assistance and protection to refuges and asylum seekers in Ghana, but had also been actively pursuing durable solutions that would enable them rebuild their lives in dignity by giving them skills training, business support among others.

Ms Susan Ngongi, UN Resident Coordinator in Ghana, said the World Refugee Day had been celebrated since 2001 to honour the spirit, courage, resilience, strength and determination of people who had been forced to flee their homeland under the threat of persecution and violence.

She said the Day is to bring back human face behind the numbers, statistics and figures to raise awareness, compassion and understanding about individuals and families whose lives had been torn apart because of war, insecurity or human abuses.

Ms Susan Ngongi added that the Day would also be used to recognise the harrowing experiences of refugees and also to recognise their dreams, ambitions and aspirations.

Deputy Minister for the Interior, said Government had approved a local integration policy for refugees under which about 4,000 Liberian refugees had been granted stay in Ghana and to take advantage of opportunities in the country for their personal development.

He said Ghana stood out as one for the few countries in the world that had started issuing Convention Travel Document to refugees who qualify and show need to travel.

He appealed to refugees and asylum seekers in the country to reciprocate Ghana’s kind gesture by being law abiding and focus on opportunities available to them.

The theme for this year’s celebration was “One Refugee Family Torn Apart by War is Too Many”.

The occasion was also used to present unspecified number of Liberian passports to refugees who opted for local integration.

Source: GNA

The post 20,809 refugees live in Ghana- UNHCR appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.