The process to connect all Senior high schools (SHSs) in the country to free Wifi is on course, the Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has said.
He said all things being equal, the process would be fully implemented next year.
Dr Bawumia said that when he launched the Aspirants Unite for Victory group for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Accra on Monday.
The promise for a free Wifi for all SHSs is contained in the NPP 2020 election manifesto.
The Group
The Aspirants Unite for Victory is a group of 220 unsuccessful parliamentary aspirants and 42 sitting MPs who lost the primaries of the NPP but who have buried their differences and put the defeat behind them and have joined forces to work to ensure victory for the NPP in the December elections.
Among the strategies they have adopted for the campaign are regional tours, constituency visits, health walks and also to be very active on social media.
Apathy
Dr Bawumia charged the unsuccessful parliamentary aspirants of the NPP to actively get on board the 2020 elections campaign to avoid voter apathy in the December elections.
He said they must join forces with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the aspiring MPs so that the roadmap for the party was duly achieved.
“We need a resounding victory for the President and MPs so put in 100 per cent effort so the roadmap is achieved,” the Vice-President told them.
While commending the group for the initiative which he described as remarkable, Dr Bawumia said, “ you had the right to grumble but you overlooked your loss for the sake of President Akufo-Addo and the NPP”.
He said the unity exhibited by the group gave enough impetus to the party and so every effort would be made to support the group for a successful campaign.
He said the NPP had a team which was solidly knitted together for victory this year because it had stayed true to the people by delivering most of its promises.
He, however, stressed the need for unity at all times, saying, “ a house divided by itself cannot stand”.
Dr Bawumia advised the group to continue with the agenda of their movement beyond this year’s elections, saying, their coming together was a good sign for the demonstration of unflinching love for the NPP and urged them to continue to showcase their love for the party even more in opposition.
Comparison
Comparing the eight years of the NDC from 2008 to 2016 to the three-and-a-half years of the NPP, the Vice-President said there was so much at stake for the future of the country that voting for the NDC and former President John Dramani Mahama would mean retrogression.
He described the former President as lacking the credibility to stage a comeback.
“He was the one who banned okada but he says he would now legalise okada if he should come back. He introduced the teachers licensure examination but now he is saying he will cancel it when he gets the chance. Again, he said free SHS was not possible and that even if he had the money he won’t invest in free SHS but now he is saying he would extend it to private schools,” Vice-President Bawumia stated.
Dr Bawumia said under President Akufo-Addo, Ghana had a transformational leader who had done so much in the last three and a half years, including revamping the automobile industry, massive achievements in the agricultural sector through the Planting for Food and Jobs policy which had led to the export of at least 17 crops.
Strong majority
The Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Mike Oquaye, who chaired the ceremony, said President Akufo-Addo would need a strong majority representation in Parliament to prosecute his agenda for growth.
“Loyalty is the duty of true party members and so do not encourage skirt and blouse,” he stressed.
Prof. Oquaye described the meeting as unprecedented because after every parliamentary primary of the party, there was too much friction and misunderstanding.
No personal interests
The National Organiser of the party, Mr Sammy Awuku, for his part, commended the aspirants for choosing the NPP over their personal interests and urged them to unite to work together for victory.
He said victory in this year’s elections would not come on a silver platter and, therefore, the NPP needed everyone on board.
The national organiser appealed to the group and members of the party at large to ensure that internal elections were devoid of personality attacks and character assassinations.
Lessons
A defeated aspirant at the Nhyiaeso Constituency in the Ashanti Region and a convener of the Aspirants Unite for Victory, Mr Kennedy Kankam, said defeat taught them a lot of lessons.
He said if the unsuccessful candidates were well managed and supported, it would all be good for the party.
“We have resolved that we are going to work for victory for the party and beyond and that is manifested in the funding and organisation of this event which we did all by ourselves,” he said.
Mr Kankam added that they had resolved to forgive all delegates and others who worked against all the aspirants who lost in the primaries. – Graphic