A number of supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Takoradi constituency in the Western Region have expressed their satisfaction and happiness about the decision of the council of elders to stage the national delegates congress in Tamale, the Northern regional capital.

They argued that it was a very laudable idea for all members of the NPP fraternity to congregate at one location to enable the members to have a fruitful interaction and share ideas, while honouring the memory of the late Vice President of Ghana, Alhaji Aliu Mahama.

Speaking to the Daily Graphic in separate interviews, the NPP activists noted that the holding of the congress in Tamale was also an appreciation of the fact that the party had recognised the impressive way the people in the north voted for the party in the 2012 elections, expressing the hope that it would further boost the chances of the NPP to obtain far more votes in the 2016 general ballot.

Ms Esther Nyantakyi, the former Deputy Women Organiser of the party said the council had taken a wise decision, explaining that the earlier suggestion that the congress be held at the various constituencies would have increased cost to the party.

She also asserted that the idea would now pave the way for the delegates to have a fair idea and appreciation of the contestants and make the right choice, adding that the decision would further strengthen the feel of belongingness by the north to the party and again defeat the notion that the NPP is an Akan party.

For his part, Mr Kwesi Biney, a former executive member of the Western Regional branch of the party indicated that it was a major advantage to organise the congress at a central place to bring together people who, hitherto, did not know themselves.

He also pointed out that having come out of the regional congresses, it was important that they congregated at one place for the regional executive members to identify themselves and ginger them up for the election.

Mr Biney explained that for the first time that such a congress was being held in the north, it would also have a compelling effect on the two other regions in the northern sector the Upper East and Upper West and that it was a welcome idea which would galvanise them to increase the votes of the party in the next elections.

The Western Regional Chairman of the NPP, Mr Dickson Kofi Atta-Nketia, said the Tamale congress would be a forum to meet colleagues, share ideas and move the supporters forward, adding that, ‘‘We need to move the NPP to the highest pedestal and so every year we should meet at one location and think about the fortunes of our great party.”

According to him, it would have been a bad precedent to have organised the congress in what he described as ‘‘tot-tot’’ manner, where the election of the national executive would have been done at the various constituencies, meaning that the Electoral College would not have known whom they voted for.

Mr Yaw Amoabeng Acheampong, the Western Regional Youth Organiser of the party, observed that the essence of a congress was to come together to look at what had transpired over the years and plan ahead.

He added that it was a forum for the leadership to account for their stewardship, where the chairman would deliver an address regarding the state of the party while the treasurer was also expected to let the supporters appreciate the financial status of the party, saying, ‘‘I am 100 per cent in favour of the congress being held at Tamale.’’