The Western and Central Regional Wings of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), together with some potential delegates from the Ashanti, Volta and the three Northern Regions, have openly declared their support for former Minister of Education, Science and Sports, Papa Owusu Ankomah in his bid to become the party's flag-bearer. The delegates confirm that the "quiet dynamo," as they describe him, is the only candidate among the 19 NPP aspirants with a clean track record in reference to the seven ministerial positions he was given to manage, to match NDC's Mills in the forth coming general elections. They explained that Papa Owusu Ankomah was a quiet leader who rarely spoke but was able to contribute to the economic growth of the country until his recent resignation. The delegates noted that since Papa was of Fante descent, he was the right candidate for the NPP, to prevent the NDC from splitting NPP's votes in the Central Region. Launching his campaign at the Centre for National Culture in Cape Coast, the presidential hopeful, who was ushered into the auditorium amidst fanfare and to a song specially composed in his honour by the Western Diamonds Band, pledged to create a new Ghana by transforming the country's economic set-up by moving it on a par with the developed ones. The Member of Parliament (MP) for Sekondi elaborated on his campaign theme; "It's time to move from foundation to transformation," and said that he had instituted a total transformation policy for the country to be executed when he is given the mandate to lead the party and the country in January 2009. He described himself as the transformation messenger who would carry the party's message to a terrain where the party was not popular. He added that the NPP had been successful because it had carried the right message, urging the people to give him the opportunity to broaden the support base of the party. Papa Owusu Ankomah said he would adopt truth to improve the lives of Ghanaian citizens and put in place the right priorities and stay focused to be able to achieve his goal of transforming the economy. He said he would strengthen the anti-corruption mandate of the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) by giving it the power to prosecute as a means of fighting corruption. He noted that the problem facing the country was that the country had distanced itself from the values of the founding fathers who believed in tolerance for all, indicating that he would ensure orientation for the public sector in order to propel the nation to higher heights and ensure that Ghana became the easiest place to do business in Africa. He said he would also make sure that the regions and districts had greater say on how they wanted their livelihoods to be sustained and partner with chiefs on activities that were national in scope and character. Source: The Chronicle