Newly elected General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, has disclosed that most of the people who worked for him in clinching the position in the party at the just ended national executives congress were members of parliament.
According to him, one of the reasons he was massively voted for was because of the strong support he received from Parliament. He indicated that his background as a former Member of Parliament won him the support of the NDC’s Parliamentary caucus who went out of their way to campaign for him.
“Asiedu Nketia as a General-Secretary was also a former Member of Parliament and so naturally the Parliamentarians appreciate that if you have a General-Secretary who has been an MP, it becomes a much more advantageous position. A lot of those who were working for me without me knowing were the MPs. They were working super hard for me.”
Fifi Fiavi Kwetey
Mr Kwetey stated that he reckoned his experience as a Parliamentarian puts him in the best of position to have a better appreciation of the difficulties the NDC MPs face and how to offer solutions to help overcome them. With this, he explained that he has the requisite know-how to bridge the gap between Parliamentarians and the average Ghanaian.
“I’m coming from Parliament and the only candidate out of the three who is a former MP. So naturally, if there is anyone who can understand the issues that are in Parliament, who has a certain affinity with them, who can appreciate where they’re coming from and the difficulties they go through, it will be me. I have that advantage.”
Fifi Fiavi Kwetey
Patriotism within political parties
Commenting on his role in the party, the General Secretary of the NDC noted that instilling patriotism in the heart of members of the party remains crucial. This, he stated, forms part of his mission for building a stronger party ahead of the 2024 election.
Mr Kwetey noted that patriotism that had characterized the first political parties have been lost to parochial interests at the expense of the general development of the country. He highlighted that this has been expressed in some of the very entrenched partisan positions the two major parties have taken on national issues without considering the interest of the citizenry that gave them power.
“A number of things have been of concern to me. I’ve been for example a bit disappointed by what I call very entrenched positions which I felt were too partisan and were not in the interest of the nation. That has been a concern to me. I believe we need to appreciate that the reason why we have political parties is to first and foremost fight to win power; it is much more than that.”
Fifi Fiavi Kwetey
Mr Kwetey expressed concern that both the NDC and NPP parties need to become much more patriotic, “much more loving our nation, much more desirous of making sure that the aim of the parties is not simply about winning power”, but doing what it is that can actually inure to the greatest benefit of the country.
He equally lamented about moves by certain elements within the NDC to make the party solely partisan rather than patriotic.
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