Mr Nkrabeah Effah-Dartey, a former New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Berekum, has declared his candidature for the party’s General Secretary position, saying the party needs an effective leadership to help it recapture power in 2012.

Declaring his candidature at a press conference in Accra on Monday, the 56-year-old Barrister at Law, pledged to run an effective operational national secretariat, where all stakeholders and resources would be rallied towards winning the next national elections.

Outlining his reasons to contest the position, Mr Effah-Dartey said the challenges facing the NPP required an effective General Secretary, who had the energy to travel all over the country visiting the branches of the party, attending each regional meeting, including major trouble spots, to reorganize it as a “Fighting Machine” to win votes.

He said the exigencies of the past were different from those of the present adding that even though past holders of the position might have successfully executed their roles, the current situation demanded a new direction to which he had the solution.

“In 2000, we rode on the popularity of the message ‘Positive Change’ and strode into power. Alas, after only eight years in power, we are back in opposition and going to confront a party that enjoyed power for almost 19 years, and saw the horrors of life in opposition. You do not need the brain of a bishop to be able to predict that the National Democratic Congress will do everything under the sun to ensure that they do not lose power in 2012,” he stressed.

He said this made it imperative that “we must pick men and women who will give total sacrifice of their energies and time to work for the success of the party”.

On his chances at winning the position, Mr Effah-Dartey said, as a former flag bearer aspirant, who campaigned on the ground, coupled with experience as a Deputy Minister of Local Government, he had been grilled to effectively handle the office of the General Secretary for the party.

He said his loyalty to the NPP was unquestionable adding that this explained why he did not resign or go to court to challenge the party’s decision to disqualify him from the presidential candidate race in 2007, even though it erred in law by taking such an action.

Mr Effah-Dartey commended the founding fathers and all past and current executives for managing the “engine room of the party” and called on the party’s former and current Members of Parliament to close ranks and join him to build the party.

He said the NPP still enjoyed goodwill and support among the electorate and called on foot soldiers to remain committed to its course and work to deliver victory for it in 2012.

The NPP goes to congress in December to elect new national executives to run its affairs for the next four years.