Presidential aspirant, Joe Ghartey, has urged delegates of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) to elect an experienced and trustworthy presidential candidate to help the party win the 2024 general elections.
He said the party needed someone who is loyal and also has compassion to lead the party.
The former Minister of Railways Development, while talking in an interview with Sir John on Fox morning drive on Tuesday as part of his tour of the Ashanti Region, monitored by The Chronicle, urged the delegates to do the needful by voting him if they wanted the party to break the 8 years myth.
Joe Ghartey explained that he had been a member of the NPP since 1992 when the party was formed, and had since touted the ideals and campaigned for the party to move the country forward.
He indicated that Railway Transport was his priority and it was his intention to focus on transportation infrastructure to develop Ghana. He stressed that as a country “we must always strive to go forward and not backwards.”
In a related interview with another Kumasi-based station, Angel FM, Joe Ghartey stated that the Justice for All programme he initiated whilst serving as Ghana’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice had decongested Ghana’s prisons.
He added that the introduction of the Justice for All programme reduced the number of remand persons in Ghanaian prisons to 9% from 33%.
“Justice for All was a programme which, among other things, moved the court into the prisons to grant relief to people who were unjustifiably incarcerated. Today, I say this to praise the Lord, that only 9% of our inmates are remand prisoners,” Joe Ghartey noted.
He explained that the decision to introduce such a life-touching programme was realised after visiting the Kumasi Central Prison, where he saw that the place was overcrowded, during which he met a young lady who had been jailed in very unfortunate circumstances.
He added that “other African countries like Kenya have adopted the programme to help reduce the number of remand prisoners in their prisons.”
The lawmaker affirmed that these initiatives made him happy, because it was all about making a difference wherever he found himself in serving the people.
The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has set November 4, 2023 for its presidential primary to select a flagbearer for the general elections in 2024.
Former Attorney General and Minister for Justice Joe Ghartey will face former Agric Minister Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto; Mr. Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, former Trade Minister; Mr. Boakye Agyako, former Energy Minister; Mr. Kennedy Agyapong, Mr. Kwabena Agyapong, former General Secretary of the party; Mr. Francis Addai-Nimoh and Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku alongside the Vice. President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, who have all declared their intention to contest in the upcoming presidential primary to seek the mandate to lead the party ahead of the 2024 polls.