Hon. George Mireku Duker – Dep. Lands Minister
By Julian Owusu Abedi
Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources Hon. George Mireku Duker has reached out to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) faithful and soldiery to consciously promote and forge the very needed unity within their rank and file in other that ‘Breaking The 8’ agenda will come alive.
In an exclusive interview with the Dep. Minister to elicit his views on ‘Breaking The 8’ agenda right on heels of the withdrawal of Alan K. Kyeremanteng from the upcoming Party’s Presidential Primaries, Hon. Duker stated that “the clarion call for unity and concord within our fold is key today more than ever”.
He said, “there’s a clear possibility of the NPP securing a third term to govern the Nation again given the hard work and commitment the party has shown in the last seven years but we can’t ever achieve this without a united front”
Hon. Duker recounted that Ghanaians re-affirmed Akufo-Addo’s mandate in 2016 to continue the good works he had started which include policies like Free SHS, NABCo, 1 District, 1 Factory, Planting for Foods & Jobs and Digitalization of Institutions/Zipline Technologies, etc
He said, “there’s therefore the need to stay united, stay loyal to the party and not any individual because the “supremacy of our party is key” and all aspirants are reminded to be mindful of the fact they got their fame from the workings of the party.
The Dep. Minister cited that the South African far-left pan-Africanist and Marxist-Lennist political party, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) which was formed in 2013 out of the African National Congress (ANC) led by Julius Malema, was purportedly to breakdown ANC but couldn’t achieve it’s aim because of ANC’s solid foundation and structure.
Again, he said, there’s this recent instance in Nigeria where a seemingly third force called Peter Obi defected to another party, citing unfair treatment in his original party primaries but still lost miserably in the end.
In 1955, the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) broke off from the Australian Labour Party (ALP) by certain leaders due to various in-party grievances. Though they made some little impact in the 1960s and 1970s, they have been de-registered by Australia’s Electoral Commission as of March 2022 because they couldn’t prove they have at least 1,500 legal members.
Another instance is; on January 10, 1997, Charles Wireko Brobbey, the then leading Member of the NPP, formed a new political party called the United Ghana Movement (UGM) as a splinter group from the NPP. He went on to score a paltry 0.3% of popular votes in the 2000 general elections, which couldn’t stop the victory of the NPP.
“I am citing these examples to indicate that an individual won’t find it easy to dwindle the political fortunes of the NPP.” I am convinced that, when we stay united we shall surely prevail. As Matshona Dhliwayo puts it, “A mighty storm is inconsequential when facing a mighty ship.” I am optimistic that, when the wheels are strong, a ship has no reason to fear turbulence.
“Ultimately, the supreme battle is not amongst us but our opponents, the NDC, who are sitting on the fence, hoping to see us divided for them to take advantage of.” As Abraham Lincoln once indicated, “A house divided against itself cannot stand” so do I believe that, breakaways don’t really solve the challenges of a party.
Hon. Duker stated that “we have done so much as a party and government to allow our petty differences and parochial interest disintegrate our front when in fact, we have all to gain if we stand together”
Again, he indicated that “we have the capacity and the structural architecture in place to resolve some of these issues if we are a bit proactive, so that some of these matters don’t degenerate into chaotic situations on our own hands.”
“I’ll urge that going forward, we make a conscious effort to bury our little differences and rather galvanize our base in unanimity and concord to forcefully push the ‘Breaking The 8’ agenda into fruition”, the Deputy Minister opined.
