One of the aspirants to the flag bearer position of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Boakye K. Agyarko, says there is utter disappointment and disillusionment in the faces of the majority of the grassroots whose sweat and toil brought the party into political power. He says this is as a result of the neglect and disregard by officialdom, and according to him, this practice, if allowed to continue, could have immeasurable negative effect on the structures of the party. Mr. Agyarko, in an interview with The Heritage on Friday, intimated that this was the gap he intends to bridge, if he was given the mandate by the delegates to lead the party in next year's election. "It is disappointment and disillusionment when I see people of the party who are poverty-ridden throughout my tour. Sadly, majority of the executive members of the party are unemployed; they have devoted all their time for the work of the party and yet they are poor. "This is what I intend to change. Constituency executive members of the party deserve some form of remuneration for their efforts to the cause of the party. Leadership and followership are two different things. As a leader, followers want to feel your presence, they must have access to you. A leader is one person the followers look up to, so if, at the end of the day, the party does not get these, that is a recipe for disaster, and that is what I want to repair," he averred. Mr. Agyarko, an astute and renowned international banker and economist, described as pitiful, the sight of some of the party executives who have worked all their lives for the survival of the party but live in abject poverty. "I need them to buy my vision. I would ensure that they feel a sense of belonging. This is the bond I want cemented with the grassroots, and I have made that clear on all my tours. I intend to move this agenda forward to all the nooks and crannies. "I want to institute a practice that would ensure that I am in constant touch with the party, because I take the party as organic and important. Our people deserve better," he further stated. Mr. Agyarko, who embarks on the third of his four-leg nation-wide planned tour next week, said, by the fourth and final lap, he would have made 920 visits as planned "and will be ready to take the nation by storm." According to the former vice president of the Bank of New York, by the end of the tour, every constituency would have been visited four times, "because in politics you need to keep reminding the people the salience of your message." He noted that the tour which begins from the Upper East Region would end in Accra in September. He described the two nation-wide tours as successful and encouraging saying, "The people have appreciated what I have done and continue to do for the party." Source: The Heritage