All is set for the national delegates’ congress of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) during which 2,326 delegates from the 230 constituencies will elect a flag bearer to lead the party in the 2008 elections.

The National Chairman of the party, Mr Peter Mac Manu, announced this yesterday in Accra, when he briefed the media about the preparations so far made towards what he described as the Golden Jubilee Congress.

He assured the journalists of a very transparent and fair congress and outlined the logistics that had been put in place to ensure that the congress went on successfully.

He said transportation had been provided for all the delegates to ensure that they arrived on time to have sufficient rest before the take-off of the programme, while accommodation had also been secured at a very comfortable hostel close to the venue of the congress to house all the delegates.

He said some of the facilities that were put in place included about 25 GT telephone facilities for the media to facilitate live transmission of the congress, CCTV facilities to enable those who would be outside the main hall to monitor the process and a stand-by medical team.

Mr Manu described the preparation so far made as excellent without any hiccups and considering that there were delegates from all the 230 constituencies in the country, with petitions from about only five constituencies about the modalities of selecting delegates, did not raise any concern.

He gave the assurance that by the close of day on Friday, all the knotty issues would have been resolved.

He said, however, that the congress needed one-third of the total number of delegates to form a quorum.

Mr Manu said all the delegates were expected to arrive by 9 p.m. on Friday to go through the formalities and by 6 p.m. on Saturday, all the results would have been declared.

He said there was not going to be any rift after the congress, and that the party would come out a more united one and intact and would move ahead to chalk up another resounding victory next year.

He said measures had been put in place to ensure that all contestants would be satisfied with the outcome of the results, whether one lost or won and there would be no reason for anyone to complain.

According to him, all the aspirants of the party's flagbearership had been given the list of all the delegates, while they would also have access to the delegates in order to make their pitch.

He said the most important thing that had occurred was the demonstration of brotherhood which was demonstrated by the aspirants and their affirmation that they were all committed to the unity of the party.

Mr Manu cautioned those who were bent on causing mischief to damage the reputation and integrity of the party to be wary of that because the security agents would deal with them mercilessly.




Source: Daily Graphic