Mohammed Sukparu, NDC PC for Sisala West
Mohammed Sukparu, the parliamentary candidate of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Sisala West constituency, has advised politicians to focus on the right resources needed to prosecute a Covid-19-related campaign and not focus on big cars.
According to Mr Sukparu, who is popularly referred to as Mo, while big cars maybe good in prosecuting political campaign, in the era of Covid-19 where people cannot meet in large numbers, spending on resources such as motorbikes will worth the while than on big cars.
“Look, this year, we are not going to engage in big rallies because we are still in a time that we cannot even organise people more than 100. So, why wasting resources on these…and besides, how many people can a pickup carry? Maximum five,” he noted.
Mr Sukparu, who is also a former president of the Private Universities Students Association of Ghana (PUSAG), made the obervation while speaking to Accra based Kasapa FM.
Limited resources
Focusing on his party, the NDC, he stated that the party is not well-resourced at this time and must therefore be prudent in its expenditure for the election.
“I think three or four vehicles for a particular region is important for the regional executives to be able to play the coordinating role…four vehicles are enough for the region to deliver. Give the rest of the resources to the constituencies, resource them. These constituents are hungry, they are ready to work for John Mahama. In fact, I don’t mind riding on a motor bike to do my campaign,” he said.
“You are monitoring the ongoing registration exercise. You go and meet your party agents and you cannot even give them GHC100 or even GHC50 to buy water and yet you drove 4X4 to the place. If you were such an agent, how would you feel?” he questioned.
“But when you go there with a motor bike or when you walk there, they feel that you are part of them and even if you do not give them GHC50, they will still be happy,” he added.
He stated that the new order requires the NDC to adopt a campaign strategy that demands them to focus on distribution of less expensive resources such as motorbikes, party t-shirts and other paraphernalia, to the grassroots.
“I can tell you that when you go to the grounds and give someone a t-shirt, the excitement and assurances you’ll get from that fellow cannot be obtained with a $25,000 or $30,000 worth of pick-up that you’ll be driving in the constituency,” he said.
“What we need is to reach the people in their homes, shops and villages. To do that, we need motorbikes and other resources to support our men on the grounds to continue working and doing even better,” he added.
