CHOICE OF FLAG BEARER, MONEY NOT DETERMINING FACTOR (P.13) 08-12-07

Story: Kofi Yeboah
MONEY will not be a determining factor for the election of a flag bearer and national executive officers of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) at its national delegates congress on December 15, 2007, party chairman and leader, Dr Edmund Delle, has said.
According to him, the determining factors would be commitment, dedication, faithfulness and selflessness to the cause of the party.
“I have demonstrated all these qualities over the years. I do not see how my competitors can match my credentials in the party. I am the rock and no one can move me”, Dr Delle told the Daily Graphic in Accra.
He called on the delegates to the national congress not to allow anyone to buy their conscience with money in spite of the temptation to do so, cautioning that the moment they fell to that temptation, they would have spelt the doom of the party.
“I know there is enormous pressure on them to collect huge sums of money from various sources to influence their voting. But I urge them to resist the temptation in the interest of the party”, he advised the delegates.
The CPP leader reminded the delegates and supporters of the party of the difficult times they had gone through in the past, and urged them to continue to make sacrifices for the party instead of allowing their personal gains to influence them.
He said his bid for re-election as chairman and leader of the CPP was informed by the realisation that the party needed a strong, committed and faithful leader who would unite all forces within and outside the party to restore it to political power after election 2008.
“The battle ahead of us is not for the weak and the inexperienced. This is not the time for rehearsals. It is time for business and action”, Dr Delle remarked.
According to him, “Delle” was already a household name and a marketable brand that would help change the fortunes of the CPP in the 2008 elections.
Dr Delle said when re-elected, he would work towards mobilising women and the youth for the party because he believed that they had a crucial role to play in the party.
He dismissed assertions that the CPP was a party for old men and women, pointing out that at the time the political party chairmen caucus was formed, he was the youngest chairman amongst the group.
Dr Delle said at the moment, he was the longest serving member of the chairmen’s caucus after the exit of Mr Harona Esseku of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and Dr Obed Asamoah, formerly of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
He said he had acquired enormous experience as chairman over the years, stressing that his experience was crucial to the party’s quest to regaining political power.
“The decision is in your hands and I know you will never disappointment me, your own selves and the party of the great Osagyefo”, he told the delegates.