6 Vie For NPP Youth Organizer Position

The New Statesman is reliably informed that as many as 6 persons have confirmed their intentions to become the next National Youth Organizer of the New Patriotic Party ahead of next year�s national delegates� conference. However, the list could be whittled down to four as the New Statesman is reliably informed that two of the contestants will exceed the constitutionally mandated age of 40 during their tenure as National Youth Organizer of the NPP, which will make them ineligible to contest in next year�s election. Emmanuel Attafua Danso, the current National Youth Organizer of the NPP; Pius Enam Hadzide, the 2012 NPP candidate for Ketu North and one time NPP Youth Organizer aspirant; and David Asante, spokesperson for pressure group Let My Vote Count and former SRC President at KNUST have declared their intentions to run for the National Youth Organizer position of the party and are considered as the early frontrunners for the position. Gideon Boako, the Ashanti Regional Youth Organizer of the NPP; Richard Nyamah, convener of the Young Patriots and Michael Ampong, the Greater Accra Regional Communications Director of the NPP, make up the remaining persons interested in becoming the next youth organizer of the NPP. Many analysts have interpreted Article 14 (b) of the NPP�s constitution, which states that ��Youth� is a Member who has not attained the age of forty (40) years)�, to imply that a National Youth Organizer of the party during his or her four year tenure in office should not attain the age 40. Thus, from this interpretation of the constitution, the New Statesman is informed that Michael Ampong and Richard Nyamah could potentially be ineligible to contest for the position as they will attain the age of 40 whilst being in office, should they win the contest. It appears that delegates of the NPP, in their choice of who becomes the next General Secretary, will be taking a lot of factors into consideration, including the leadership credentials, strategic initiatives, team-playership, ability to unite, connect with and mobilise grassroots support, communication skills and total commitment to the 2016 project of working to wrestle power from the ruling National Democratic Congress, regardless of who becomes the NPP�s 2016 flagbearer. As of now, Pius Enam Hadzide, David Asante and Emmanuel Attafua remain the men to beat. The New Statesman today brings you a short profile of the six possible candidates who may vie for the position of Youth Organizer of the New Patriotic Party. Emmanuel Attafua Danso Emmanuel Attafua Danso is the current National Youth Organizer of the New Patriotic Party. He was appointed deputy National Youth Organizer by the National Executive Council of the NPP after Anthony Karbo was elected National Youth Organizer of the party. He assumed the youth leadership role of the party after Anthony Karbo contested as the NPP Parliamentary Candidate for the Lawra constituency in the Upper West region. He is also the Students Coordinator at Political and Economic Research Council (PERC) and expecting to cement his position as Youth Organizer of the NPP. The Youth Organizer is calling for the Youth to embrace the principle of collective responsibility and put their energies at the disposal of the Party to work together to win power to help liberate the people of this Country. Pius Enam Hadzide Pius Enam Hadzide was the 2012 Parliamentry Candidate of the NPP in the Ketu North Constituency. Amongst the field of potential contenders, Pius is the one of the mos experienced in the field having contested for the position twice. In 2005, he came second to John Boadu and in the 2008 primary, he placed third after Anthony Karbo and Stephen Amoah. Many pundits within the party are tipping him as a strong contender this time around considering his vast experience in the party. Pius believes that among all those vying for the position, he is the best qualified person to be elected to champion the course of the youth because he has the track record. 'I believe that I am the 'General' to lead the army. I have served my apprenticeship enough,' the NPP youth leader underscored. He is prepared to put up proper structures to push for a 'standing army' in the party that would be ready to work and sacrifice consistently to improve on the existing structures of the party. 'I believe that the youth in our party should be given the opportunity to serve. The party's youth wing, according to the him is under resourced and he would use his connections with the business community through the use of innovative ways of raising funds to support the course of the party, especially the youth front. David Asante Born in 1982, in Nkawkaw, in the Eastern Region, King David, as he is popularly referred to, obtained his first degree at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in 2007. After graduating from KNUST, he pursued a Master�s Degree in Human Resource Management at the Birmingham Business School of the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom. He is also a graduate member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development. Whilst at KNUST, King David�s involvement in student politics at the TESCON level paved the way and excited his interest for the pursuit of national politics. He became the KNUST�s President of the Student Representative Council (SRC), in the 2006/2007 academic year. Transcending unto the national stage, David Asante had the opportunity to work as the Head of the Advance Team of the Akufo-Addo campaign team from 2007, and undertook a similar role in 2012. During the 8-month duration of the Presidential Election Petition, David Asante was the spokesman for the pressure group, Let My Vote Count Alliance, a multi-partisan rainbow coalition of concerned citizens from all walks of life, especially youth, dedicated to protect freedom, justice, and democracy in Ghana. Through the activities of this group, Ghanaians, across the length and breadth of the country were kept well-informed on the proceedings at the Supreme Court. David Asante sees himself as the man the NPP needs to ensure that the Youth Wing is galvanized into a formidable unit to responds, by the formulation of policies and programmes, to the needs of the youth within the party, and ensures the youth of the NPP are spurred on at the polling station, constituency and regional level to ensure the NPP returns to power in the 2016 election. Gideon Boako Gideon Boako is the current Ashanti Regional Youth Organizer of the NPP. Born in 1983, he hails from Bomaa in the Brong Ahafo region. He curently holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Natural Resources Management from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology; an MBA in Finance from the same institution and is pursing an MPhil in Finance from the sae institution. He has ben a member of the Ashanti Regional NPP Publicity, Research and Information Management (PRIM) or Communications Team since 2005; media relations manager ass well as the Outreach Programmes Coordinator of TESCON KNUST in 2007. Richard Nyamah Richard Nyamah is the Presideent of the Young Patriots and is gunning for the position of the National Youth Organiizer of the NPP. He hails from the Northern Region and has been seen as a vociferous voice promoting the youth frontier of the NPP in recent years. Michael Ampong Popularly refered to as �Dzagbele�, Michael Ampong is considered a veteran in contesting for the position of the Youth Organizer position of the NPP. Currently serving as the Greater Accra Regional Communications Director of the NPP, this is perhaps Michael�s last chance in annexing the position as Youth Organizer of the NPP.