The main issues we’re confronted with as a party,
include: Motivation, Lack of cash flow to help support
critical activities necessary to execute long term
plans, Factionalism, Individualism, Tensions between
some MPs and Executives, Tensions within party
executives and Transparency.
The Supreme Court ruling has also changed the dynamics
of the game and we cannot operate the same way we’ve
been operating. Things have got to change.
We need New Thinking and a New Direction.
Party Financing
Party financing has been a big issue and executives, who
in themselves are volunteers, are called upon to, not
only give of their time, but use their often scarce
resources to fund the day to day activities and other
running expenses of the party, from rent to funeral
donations. This is most severe, especially in the so
called orphan constituencies.
Members of Parliament also have to spend their salaries
and allowances to support the constituency party as well
as provide interventions in the constituencies.
The party, as a whole, relies on donations and
contributions from a few business folks and well-wishers
as it has no effective and efficient means of raising
money from its members and supporters. Most people tend
to donate and contribute funds a few months to a general
election when the campaign is at a feverish pitch and
when they think we stand a chance of winning.
If the party is to plan and prepare for the long term,
it needs cash flows. It'll need money to come in
periodically on a weekly, bi-weekly and monthly basis to
fund year round activities and interventions necessary
to build, train, prepare and support the executives and
candidates to identify our supporters, engage them, win
floating voters, get supporters and floating voters out
to vote and to protect every ballot cast for the NPP.
Until this is done and especially, given the nature of
our main opponent, it'll be very difficult for us to
undertake the necessary activities to win an election,
unless by an act of God.
The following are the activities we shall pursue to
raise cash flows for the party:
a. Dues: We shall implement One-Man-One-Vote (OMOV).
Every card bearing member of the party of good standing
will cast his/her vote in primaries to elect our
candidates. To be of good standing will be to pay your
dues every month from the start of the program, without
fail, till the elections. GHC1 to vote parliamentary,
GHC2 to vote presidential.
A little over 5 million people voted for us in the last
election and we have many members in the diaspora, which
we estimate to be over 2 million. Our target will be 1
million people each giving us an average of GHC1 per
month. We shall make it possible for these people to
register online, be issued with free NPP ID cards, and
pay their dues online, by text, at various locations
across the country, including rural banks and mobile
money. Our members will be able to do these things
wherever they may be.
I have already had my developers in the UK work on the
platform and database software to support OMOV. It is
this platform that is being used to prepare the polling
station albums across the country. Uploading, processing
and printing of polling station officer information for
the albums is just the beginning of the journey to OMOV.
People are thinking albums what I am doing is much
bigger. I have already provided the platform for OMOV.
b. Business Ventures: The electoral laws of Ghana
encourage political parties to engage in ventures to
help generate funding to support its activities. For a
pro-business party like ours, one is left to wonder why
we've not been able to use our very strong brand to
generate cash flow through the provision of services.
Why have we not looked at setting up, for example, an
insurance company? If we have such a company, we shall
draw expertise largely from our membership to provide a
best-in-industry insurance service. With our strong
brand recognition, I have no doubt that this will grow
in a very short time to be the biggest and best
insurance company in Ghana. Our members will be trained
to work as brokers and agents thus providing them with
employment and helping them to become self-reliant. By
law, everyone who owns a vehicle has to have
insurance....the question is not whether or not they'll
decide to insure, but WITH WHOM. And, given our
passionate support base and the level of insurance
service we'll be offering, I believe insuring with an
NPP Insurance company will be a no brainer.
c. We'll also take control of our franchise and license
people to produce paraphernalia.
These are by no means exhaustive and the combination of
all of our ventures will generate the cash flow we need
to run a modern political party as great as ours.
No one person or few individuals can generate the funds
we need to keep this party running on a daily basis. I
believe we can support our constituencies with a minimum
of GHC1,000 per month and each regional Office with a
minimum of GHC5,000 per month. I'll work with the entire
executives, patrons, members of council of elders,
supporters and well-wishers to achieve this within six
months of my taking office.
Unity
No matter how hard we've tried, this has continued to
elude us. Factions, based upon personalities, have
plagued the party. This is extremely dangerous as these
alignments are not based on ideas, but blind loyalty.
There are some people within our establishment who
thrive and benefit from this cult worship and therefore
actively promote it. They tag people as belonging to one
faction or the other and push that they be excluded from
the process. This has a similar effect as tribalism,
sexism and racism, if not worse. People are judged by
their tags, tribe, gender, age or colour rather than
their talents, knowledge, creativity or innovative
ideas.
We therefore go into elections, not only at half
strength, but with those excluded, in certain cases,
working against us. We must make it unprofitable for
people to tag others as being ‘somebody's’ man. It
blinds us and we don't get to harness all the talents
available within the party. This happens at all levels
of the party - flag bearer factionalism, parliamentary
candidate factionalism, executive factionalism.
Some people think you have to be an old man or look old
and condescending to be able to get people to work
together. I salute age and revere our elders and it is
true that with age comes wisdom, but I beg to differ.
There can be no peace unless it is in people's personal
interest to co-operate. This is the art of peace making
and, with all due respect, has nothing to do with age.
There's no way two people can be the same. Indeed we
should actively promote pluralism, but it should be
based on ideas. If I am elected as chairman, we will
assure every member of the party that his or her needs
and aspirations will be met and natured in the NPP. We
will assure them that these needs and aspirations will
be met as they work for the NPP to achieve its objective
of winning power to develop Ghana in Freedom.
We shall assure them that should, whoever we put up as
candidate for parliamentary or presidential elections
win, he or she will not use the power of parliament or
the presidency to victimise anyone. This assurance must
be objective. We will institutionalise the consultative
process within the party in the exercise of executive
and legislative power. Every appointee, when we are in
government, must be screened and endorsed by the
regional and constituency branch he or she belongs to.
When I was chairman of Greater Accra, we championed a
document famously known as the MOU. This document, which
was an initiative of the Greater Accra regional
executive committee, travelled the country and there was
consultation with regional executive committees to help
shape it. It was also presented to the National
Executive Committee of the party and won wide
endorsements. The document was endorsed by six out of
the seventeen aspirants, including the two leading
candidates in the 2007 presidential primaries.
After the primaries, the flag bearer formed a committee,
chaired by Mr. Appiah Menkah, of which I was made a
member, to further refine and make it a working document
as a sign of his commitment to seek consultation with
the party in the exercise of his executive powers should
he become president.
I UNITED the party behind the MOU. People UNITED behind
the document not because I was an old man, indeed I was
six years younger than I am today. The elderly, the
youth, the executives, the members of the National
Executive Committee and leading Presidential aspirants
all UNITED behind the document because it was in their
interest to do so.
We will revisit and promote this document among members
of the party. This document will strengthen the party
and assure all members that it pays to sit put and work
wherever you may find yourself in the party. This
document will kill sycophancy, kill the personality cult
creeping into our party and encourage 'factions' based
on ideas.
If we're able to achieve this, it will not only cut down
the sycophancy and tagging, but also direct resources
towards the regions, constituencies and polling stations
where they are most needed and promote co-operation
within the party. It will not pay to go to the
candidate's house, when you wake up in the morning to
tag and lie about others; and the polling station member
or executive who may have no way of accessing our
leaders will be motivated to stay put and work as he or
she will be recognised and will be made to feel a sense
of ownership of the victory regardless of where he or
she volunteers.
No one - current executives, members of parliament,
former executives, members and supporters, who are not
executives and may never become executives, but
tirelessly work for the party, - should be left out.
As chairman of Greater Accra, we had semi-annual events
to recognise and present current executives, former
executives and supporters with awards. It made them feel
a part of the system. I shall do same as National
Chairman.
Unity is being at one in purpose. Unity is not agreeing
all the time. Even enemies can rise above petty and
co-operate to eliminate common threats as in the case of
Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill versus Hitler. They
(Roosevelt and Churchill), though seriously opposed to
Stalin’s political sytem, were one in purpose. That
purpose being to eliminate Hitler! Personal interests
and self-preservation drove them to work together not an
elderly or big person.
On MP retention vs. Succession Promotion
Every big party in the world has had to balance the
retention of experienced and knowledgeable
parliamentarians, the nurturing of its youth and
promoting succession. This can create so much rancour
and acrimony, which if not well managed, can cause a
party to lose, even in its stronghold.
We must preserve good MPs and at the same time encourage
and prepare our youth to contest primaries to take over
from bad MP's.
We must come up with a very objective succession plan
that clearly defines how we'll replace bad and, or
ailing, public officials from our party.
What I’ll do is to lead in building a system that will
identify potential within the party and, irrespective of
their age, status in society, tribe or family ties groom
them by, among other things, supporting their education
and encouraging them to run for office within and
without the party as a way of preparing them for
government and higher responsibilities. They will serve
as interns and assistants to our MPs and government
officials when we are in power.
They will be steeped in our tradition and learn ways to
govern democratically and promote the use of capital as
the way of getting each and every Ghanaian to reach the
highest measure of his/her creation and contribute to
the collective and the poor and needy in our society.
A good MP is defined as one who:
1) is able to help in promulgating laws that will create
the needed environment for peace and development for his
constituents and Ghanaians at large
2) relates well to his constituency executives and works
with them to deliver on interventions in the
constituency and the party's manifesto
3) relates well with members of the party in the
constituency and the people he represents, regardless of
party affiliation.
These therefore will be the criteria we shall use to
determine whether or not an MP must be retained or
contested at primaries.
The MPs NPP peers in parliament will evaluate him/her.
His constituency executives will evaluate him. Members
of the constituency will be polled as well on his/her
performance. This shall be a continuous assessment. We
shall weight these three criteria and strike an average.
If the sitting MP gets a weighted average of more than
50%, he/she will not be contested in a primary. But if
the MP gets less than 50% he/she will be contested.
A sitting MP will, therefore, have his/her work cut our
for him/her and will know what to do to get
himself/herself retained. Hopefully, with this in place,
our MPs will not have to keep looking over their
shoulders and will know that 'slash and burn' politics,
knocking executives' heads together and dividing the
constituency to preserve their position will not get
them anywhere. These criteria will force even, so
referred to as, 'bad' MPs to work towards becoming
'good' MP's; not good to a few, but good to their
constituency executives, the party, their constituents
and the country. They will work towards creating
harmony, co-operation and help forge a unity of purpose.
Why would anyone want to remove such an MP ?
I'll lead a team that will go around the country to all
our members and sell this to them, in the same way, we
did with the MOU. Their input will enhance and refine
the document and make it acceptable to all. We shall
seek to enshrine this in our constitution in time for
the next primaries.
On Intra Executive Fights
The executives' roles and responsibility will be clearly
explained to them and trained to deliver as we did in
Greater Accra when, for a whole year, we brought in Dr.
Roger Koranteng, a lecturer from GIMPA, to educate our
members and members of parliament, every fortnight on
the party's constitution, their roles and
responsibilities as officers, teaching them how to
co-operate and relate to each other and providing them
with leadership and management training to help them
better lead in their constituencies. This helped reduce
tensions in the constituencies and forge better
co-operation.
The executives, as far as I am concerned, have these
main responsibilities:
1. identify and document all those who voted for the
party in the preceding election
2. identify floating voters
3. identify those who will never ever vote for us
4. strengthen our supporters
5. turn around swing voters and get them out to
register, vote and protect the votes
6. expand the membership and get them to be of good
standing.
Executives will be evaluated and rewarded based on these
deliverables.
Any funding above GHC1,000 per month to a constituency,
will be indexed to their ability to achieve the above
stated goals - they'll have their work cut out for them.
This is how we’re going to measure the work of the
constituency executives and determine whether or not
they, as a whole, not individuals, will be returned.
Hopefully, this will get all executives to work as a
team as that’s the only way to ensure their individual
survival.
The bottom line is that the party must be well resourced
at the grassroots for effective party building efforts
and I am ready to help resource the party at that level.
It must be done. Our grassroots deserve it. The days of
top heavy national campaign teams are over.
Internal and General Elections
When elected as the national chair, I promise solemnly
that I will fully commit myself to the oath of office
that I will swear before our party members and all
Ghanaians. I will boldly and fearlessly promote and
defend the best interest of our Great Elephant Party!
I will be in the national chair to conduct clean, free
and fair presidential and parliamentary primaries. I
will rally the party behind whoever wins as our Flag
bearer and those who win as parliamentary candidates for
victory in the 2016 presidential and parliamentary
general elections. Those who contested in the 2007
presidential primaries will attest to this. As the
Greater Accra Regional Chair, I respected each
presidential candidate and, my executives and I,
co-operated with their campaign teams.
Is NPP, the Great Elephant Party an Akan party?
No…Never! After Executive elections, the NPP,
recognising the need to create a national party,
appoints additional officers. The selection of the
additional officers is done to ‘reflect the national
character of the party’. This is enshrined in our
constitution. The NPP is the only party in Ghana that
has such a provision in its constitution.
The NPP is a national party with a Great tradition. I
will ensure that the national character of our Great
Tradition is truly reflected nationwide at the polls.
Under my chairmanship, we shall lay equal emphasis on
our strongholds as well as those constituencies and
regions where we are weak.
As a grassroots person myself, I am intimately aware of
the challenges at the grassroots and I will not relent
in finding practical solutions to them, including
stepping up our capacity to raise funds at all levels
for our grassroots activities.
Championing Matters of Youth
I am a strong advocate for active youth participation in
our political and national development process. Does
championing matters of youth make me any too young to
become a champion National Chairman? I beg to differ. I
believe that the youth, 18-40 year olds forming the
largest segment of the voting population, must be primed
and mobilized for political action. I also believe that
it is our responsibility to identify the youth with
talents and skills and groom them to become successful
top business people, local industrialists, experts and
political leaders. Indeed the youth are our future and
for this reason, when given the nod as your next
National Chairman, I intend to initiate a national
programme, dubbed “Forever Young” to rejuvenate our
Great Elephant Party and keep it youthful and dynamic.
The youth should therefore relax. As their strongest
advocate, I am with them all the way.
As Greater Accra Regional Chair, I helped find jobs for
the youth and stood behind people who were considered
too youthful or too poor to go to parliament. Today many
of them are parliamentarians - I have a record.
Women and Children Issues
Championing women issues is no exception for me. My
passion lies with making gender equality work for
talented and skilled women as well. My national
chairmanship will actively promote and support
Women-in-Development programmes and gender balance
policies within our Great Elephant Family. As Greater
Accra Chairman, I championed women who are now in
parliament with one in the leadership.
Upcoming National Election
It is my intention to run for the national chairmanship
as I believe I have the track record and have shown that
I am an agent of change. I have built and re-engineered
institutions; I have created opportunities and, most
importantly, have successfully benchmarked best
management practices, mobilized resources, organized
training and coordinated members and executives of the
party to implement change agendas at high levels – all
without government assistance. I have risen through the
ranks. We are confronted with a highly resourced
opponent. To match them booth for booth will require
massive resources starting now and not four months to
election.
I shall take my message to all members of the party
within and without Ghana and hope and pray that the good
people of this party, under the guidance of our heavenly
Father, will vote for change and a future where each and
every member of the party’s ambitions and interests
will, not only be protected, but natured. For it is only
when our interests are aligned that we can win power,
save and put this country back on the road to real
recovery.
Long live NPP, long live Ghana.
Kukrudu Eishie Rado! Rado!! Rado!!!
About Sammy Crabbe:
Sammy Crabbe is the immediate past Chairman of the
Greater Accra Regional branch of the New Patriotic Party
(NPP), a former member of the National Executive
Committee and a former member of the Party’s National
Council. He rose through the ranks.
Sammy Crabbe is the founder of Omanye Money, the first
truly global mobile money platform, based in the United
Kingdom, with relationships that spun the entire globe.
Other Omanye brands include Omanye Energy drink, Omanye
Potato Chips, Omanye Voiceline, and Omanye Globile, a
global mobile telephone network. He is also a founder
and President of GIA-USA LLC, Salt Lake USA and a
founder, shareholder and board member of Ghana
International Airlines Limited.
Sammy was the Deputy Head of Marketing at Capital
Telecom. He thereafter setup ACS-BPS, the first
data-entry company, which at one time became the biggest
private company in Ghana. He also helped set up CTI-TECH
(First Medical Transcription company Ghana) one of the
first call centres in the country, Mary Greenslade
Information Services. He has consulted on various major
outsourcing projects.
Mr. Crabbe is a former President of the Business
Outsourcing Association of Ghana and the Chairman of The
Crabbe Foundation, a charitable organisation in Ghana.
Sammy Crabbe holds an MBA in International Marketing
(cum laude) from the International University of Monaco,
Monte Carlo, Monaco. He is married to Sandra Crabbe, a
lawyer and, together, they have a lovely daughter.
To learn more about this campaign please contact
Seji Saji
Tel: 233264642229
December 01, 2013
