Supporters of the opposition National Democratic Congress [NDC] across the country seem not to have gotten over the record defeat of the party during the 2016 elections.
Some of these supporters continue to accuse the party’s hierarchy of amassing wealth, yet doing little to improve their lives while in power.
This deepening despondency and distrust from party members has greatly influenced the campaign of most flagbearer aspirants of the NDC, but one in particular has been consistent with his message of building a party and a government that empowers and rewards astute and hardworking party members without endangering the development of the party.
Goosie Tanoh is an avowed critic of governments that create structures that prioritize the welfare of party members above that of every Ghanaian; but holds a strong belief that structures can be put in place to ensure that members benefit from their hard work.
He has throughout his campaign promised to lead the NDC into the 2020 election given strong assurances that party members would be better off under his leadership as flagbearer.
The number one refrain in Goosie Tanoh’s addresses to delegates at separate meetings at Sandema, Zuaruugu, Navrongo, Talensi, Bongo, Tongo and Fumbisi, Bawku and Chiana- paga during his campaign tour of the Upper East Region, has been “I will never forget you, grassroots is in my blood and cannot let down you if you vote for me as your flagbearer”.
Goosie Tanoh, a chief cadre and a founding member of the party is proposing a mechanism that will both ensure the activities of the party are financed by the grassroots and create job opportunities for teaming jobless members of the party.
Youth unemployment, which is becoming a national security challenge that is affecting millions of young Ghanaians is also on his radar as the NDC Flagbearer aspirant promises to work with community members to integrate Agriculture with industry to create sustainable jobs.
Even though he has been cautious with his promises to delegates on the campaign trail in order not to attract the chagrin of the grassroots, he has not held back in stating the belief that if given the nod, communities across the country would witness a major economic change.
“Development does not come from flagstaff house, it starts from communities like Navrongo, Bawku, Fumbisi, Bongo etc,’’ he indicated at one of his engagements with delegates during the campaign tour.
He plans to train and educate party activists to lead development in their various communities.
Goosie Tanoh assured that resources and tools needed to push such an economic drive would be made available to ensure increased access to employment for women and youth through an initiative that would drive a shift from agriculture to agribusiness in order to both revitalize and make the industry more attractive and profitable.
“If we want to see all this development, then we have to finance our party, we have to make contributions by paying our party dues regularly to ensure there is enough money to undertake such projects’’.
“We cannot take government money to finance our party, government money is for the people of Ghana and not for only NDC members, we must own our party with our own resources”.
“If we love NDC like we love our churches, we must make “Susu” (daily contributions) to finance party activities’’, Goosie Tanoh admonished.
Goosie Tanoh was saddened by the level of neglect of grassroots members and promised to change the story if given the chance to lead the party as its Flagbearer for the 2020 presidential elections.
Goosie Tanoh has already met and interacted with delegates in some parts of Volta Region, Greater Accra Region, Central, Upper West and Upper East, and is currently in the Northern Region.
Grassroots empowerment, job creation, respect for party structures and accountable and principled leadership have been his talking points.
Profile of Goosie Tanoh
Tanoh is a Lawyer and a politician born on February 7, 1956.
He holds a Bachelor of Law (LLB) from the University of Ghana and Master of Law degrees from the Northwestern University Law School, Chicago, USA.
In the private sector, he has worked as a Managing Director and Chairman of the Board of Transport and Commodity General Limited, Executive Director, Finance and Administration of Ghana National Petroleum Corporation and as Director and Board Member Ecobank Ghana Limited among others.
Mr. Tanoh was a Law Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Legon in 1982 and also served as a member of the Consultative Assembly that drafted Ghana’s 1992 4th Republican Constitution.
He pioneered the packaging and exportation of Cassava chips from West Africa to Europe in 1989.
He was a member of Ghana’s delegation to the Security Council, General Assembly and the Preparatory Commission on the law of the sea, at the United Nations from 1986 to 1989.
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Citinewsroom
