An aspiring presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Kobina Arthur Kennedy, has described the party's forthcoming special delegates' congress as a contest between the frustration of the foot soldiers and the established candidates. He said if delegates voted the frustration and anger of the foot soldiers, which appeared most likely, the winner would be a new face. However, if any of the candidates was able to calm them down, then the win¬ner would be an old or established candidate. Basically, he said that nobody knew which of the two scenarios would play up during the congress. Dr Kennedy confirmed that the NPP foot soldiers felt much neglected by the ruling government and the party's establishment. He said the foot soldiers thought that their sacrifices had been in vain and never recognised. Giving his overall campaign impression to the Daily Graphic in Accra, he said up till now most of the foot soldiers had not even got certificates. He explained that "these things are fuelling anger, mistrust and frustration". Dr. Kennedy said the situation was not helped by the perception that those who did not suffer much "in the party were now seen enjoying the benefits more than it was warranted.” He said that his campaign message was going down well with the delegates, but quickly added that "of course voting just does not depend on message alone". He said "people are talking about influence of money, presidential support for a preferred candidate, among other things". "I think a lot will depend on congress floor speeches," he told the Daily Graphic, adding that "a lot of the delegates say they are confused, because the delegates are too many". In his view, President Kufuor did not manage his ministers well, hence the desire of most of them wanting to become President. "In my judgement, there should have been at most two to three Cabinet Ministers running for the presidential candidacy; it tells me that there is no natural leader among the group of ministers in the Kufuor’s administration”, he stated. According to him, he was of the view that the party, among other pragmatic measures, should have organised debates among aspirants. He explained that if the party had done that, it would have exposed some of the candidates as not being good enough. "Debates, in my view, would have separated serious contenders from non-contenders. The newspapers and transient media should have done real reporting on the vetting as well," he said, stressing that that also did not help to get the most formidable candidate. He said the reason he joined the race was that "I felt that this country had not lived up to its potential", and cited why Ghana @ 50 should import cloth from China. “We need new leadership and those who understand the fundamentals of govern¬ment”, Dr Kennedy pointed out. My message to the delegates is that "I am their candidate because I have an abiding compassion for the poor and their causes. He expressed regret that "when people get to the Presidency, they forget about the poor people and the poor regions in the country", and pledged to fight for the cause of the poor when elected. "I feel keenly the frustration of the neglected foot soldiers and, therefore, as president, I will make their concerns a priority of the party," he assured. Source: Daily Graphic