The Director of Research and Innovation at Kumasi Technical University, Professor Smart Sarpong has mentioned that party unity has emerged as the dominant consideration among NPP delegates as they prepare to elect new national executives.
According to him, delegates have increasingly identified internal divisions, rather than a lack of money or resources, as a major reason for the party’s recent difficulties.
He said unity had been elevated above factors such as resources and the strength of individual personalities in the responses gathered during his research.
“If they should move forward with this reflection and decide to turn around what they might need and they see it as the most important of all the measurements or indicators, it is unity,” Professor Sarpong said.
“You may have your own differences, but for the sake of the party, unifying or unity is the one that we need.”
Professor Sarpong said delegates attributed many of the NPP’s setbacks to internal divisions.
“They attribute most of their unsuccesses to the disunity that steps in at any point in time, other than the absence of resources,” he said.
He pointed to the party’s period in government to challenge the argument that financial resources alone could solve its political problems.
“In fact, the last time, they had more resources, if I’m allowed to say that, even than the NDC. They were in government. And resources could not do anything for them,” he said.
“Disunity is what led them down, largely, along with other factors.”
Professor Sarpong said this was reflected in the priorities delegates were placing on the qualities they wanted in the next generation of national executives.
“Those things have been more prioritised by the delegates than all the other, one a strong personality, those things,” he said.
“A lot of things have been classified less, and unity has been elevated beyond all the factors that appears to be driving the decisions the delegates are making or going to make.”
