<<Print>>

Social media has been taken by storm and invaded by posters and flyers of the Director of Communications of the Scotland Chapter of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Poku Frefre. This has caught the attention of all including non-political actors which has provoked discussions at various quarters including the media.

We therefore decided to engage the party youth about this new development, and find out how they feel this can ultimately help the party break the 8 in 2024.

Despite the scramble for positions from the constituency to the national level, it is the race for the National Youth Organiser position, mainly considered as the leader of the vanguard of the party, that is gaining a lot of currency. This brings to five the number of heavyweights that have expressed their willingness to contest the National Youth Organiser slot.

The first four to declare are the former Deputy National Youth Organiser of the party, Salam Mustapha, the Ahafo Regional Organiser, Michael Osei Boateng, the aide of the party’s General Secretary, NPP Abanga and the Deputy Youth Organiser of NPP USA, Prince Kamal-Gumah.

Interview
In the interview, the supporters of the party shared their thoughts including the political experience of Nana Poku Frefre and his vision for the party, and why they think he is the best suited and preferred candidate to occupy the National Youth Organiser seat.

They explained that when given the mandate to lead the youth of the party, they believe Frefre would provide a strong party leadership at the youth level which is needed to plan and execute the party’s activities on the ground more effectively. They delved into his organisational ability, and outlined a campaign strategy code-named, “Frefre Dom”, a wordplay with varied interpretations which include mobilisation, attracting and commanding huge, and of course, a tag identity of the supporters of Frefre’s campaign.

They explained that the “Frefre Dom” agenda pushers are deployed and found at all the constituencies in the country for effective organisation, where their campaign message is to be carried to the NPP foot-soldiers and supporters even before Frefre himself hits the grounds.

"We need the right party leadership to effectively lead the youth, engage and coordinate operations as required," they stated, adding: "we need to seize the opportunity to reach out to our NPP sympathisers, particularly the disgruntled ones and bring them on board by addressing their concerns", one supporter asserted.

They noted that, to break the 8, the party would need a Youth leader who has the charisma and ability to mobilise the supporters and sympathisers with superior strategy. As the National Youth Organiser, Frefre would work to achieve massive grassroots mobilisation to a level never experienced before in the party circles.

"As a grassroots person, he has the requisite grassroots temperament and experience to address the grassroots problems facing the NPP", another supporter stated.

Touting both his political and academic credentials as the most credible person to occupy the National Youth Organiser position of the NPP, the “Frefre Dom” supporters said he has served and continue to serve the party at various levels at the grassroots including being one of the pioneers to take advantage of the new media or social media, as a tool of mobilisation for outreach campaign programmes across the country for the party. They went on to add that, as a typical grassroots mobiliser, he is always organising outreach campaign programmes at the hinterlands and even in public transport, with the aim of projecting the message, candidates and positives of the NPP to the average Ghanaian.

Background
Nana Poku Frefre has an immense leadership acumen that traces back to his students politics and activism days, which include a Students Representative Council (SRC) General Secretary and later, SRC President, of the Institute of Management Studies. He was also a leading and influential member of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) and Ghana Union of Professional Students (GUPS) between the years 2006 and 2010.

At mainstream politics, he has served and worked as aide to National Officers and leading members of the NPP. He is currently the Director of Communications of the NPP North of Scotland Chapter, which he is a founding member of. He is also the Deputy Director of Networking at the Ashanti Regional Youth Wing of the party, and was as well, a member of the Elections 2020 Campaign Team of the Ashanti Region.

According to an intimidating academic background of his that is being shared on social media by his supporters, his academic credentials include a Marketing (CIM-UK) background and first degree in Human Resources Management all from the Institute of Management Studies, a Certificate in Cyber Intelligence and Forensics from the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre and three Master’s Degrees (MA Peace and Security Studies from the University of Cape Coast, MSc. Energy and Sustainable Management from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and MBA Energy Management from the University of Aberdeen, UK).

Nana Poku Frefre’s Professional Affiliations and memberships include an Associate Member of the Energy Institute of the UK and a Professional Member of the globally-acclaimed Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).

The NPP  supporters therefore added, "If the NPP is looking to raise its stock, so to speak, and break the 8, it should be quick to choose this man as its National Youth Organiser. The profile of Nana Poku Frefre fits the bill and the NPP has its man who will combine both professional expertise and political experience to carve and market the appropriate messages that would be gladly accepted by the average Ghanaian as he would bring his marketing skills to bear. Then his Human Resources Management skills would also be key because we would need a youth leader that can manage the mood and temperament of our vibrant young supporters as we go into elections 2024. Last but not least, his security background also indicates that, he is more than competent to come up with the right strategies needed to lead the youth as the leader of the wing." the members concluded.

Basically, the  supporters believe he is the best person to lead the youth of the party as he has served and continues to serve at the grassroots, local and community level, to the regional, the diaspora and now the national stage. They believe his experience, spanning all the various hierarchies of the party structure, has given him a firm grasp of the party’s essence, ethos and workings thus making him a formidable candidate. They are confident that Nana Poku Frefre has the expertise, the know-how and the experience to mobilise the youth in order to solidify and cement the NPP’s presence on the ground and position the party as an unbeatable political machine capable of winning every election in the present day political environment.