A former president of the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA), Mr Bice Osei Kuffour, popularly called Obour, has pledged to run a clean campaign when given the nod as a parliamentary aspirant on the ticket of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) at Asante Akyem South.

Obour made the promise when he filed his nomination at the party’s office on Friday, 14 February 2020.

The hiplife musician told his supporters: “I wish all aspirants the very best as we keenly contest each other in a healthy way. May it never be said of Asante Akyem South that we engaged in very dirty campaigns; let us always remember that our great party thrives on development in freedom.  A house divided against itself shall not stand. I, therefore, pledge my full commitment to run a very clean message-based campaign since I stand for the collective good of our great party and believe that a strong NPP inures to our collective benefit.”

Obour said his aim is to bring back Asante Akyem South’s lost glory and push his constituency to the limelight of prominence.

To achieve this, Obour stated that the party needs to take a bold and deliberate action to elevate the Asante Akyem South constituency and help consolidate the NPP’s gains and to increase the votes of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

Obour said he is of the firm belief that victory for Nana Akufo-Addo in the December polls is non-negotiable, “considering the very successful first term of our great President and leader. But we can only achieve that through unity of purpose, hard work, dedication, perseverance, commitment and excellence which defines my person.”

The NPP has settled on Saturday, 25 April 2020, to hold parliamentary primaries in all the 169 constituencies where the party has sitting Members of Parliament to elect its parliamentary candidates for the 2020 general elections.

Below is Obour’s full speech:

MESSAGE BY NPP PARLIAMENTARY NOMINEE HOPEFUL BICE OSEI KUFFOUR (OBOUR) AFTER SUBMITTING FORMS TO CONTEST ASANTE AKYEM SOUTH SEAT

Juaso – 14th February 2020

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen of the media and the good people of Asante Akyem South, submitting my nomination forms today marks the birth of a new dawn in my young but eventful life progressing from a very successful career as a musician into multi-party politics.  

I take this bold step of venturing into politics knowing my life’s blueprint which is characterised by hard work, perseverance, dedication, commitment and excellence. Anybody who has worked with me can easily attest to these very fine traits which define my person and for that matter my blueprint. Without sounding boastful, I had a very successful career as a musician winning the very top award of Artiste of the year and several other industry awards in my very musically active days. I graduated from just being a performing artiste to getting elected as the President of the Musicians Union of Ghana, the youngest ever in the annals of the Union. I got the privilege of serving two very successful terms of four years each in an industry largely driven by controversies.

I served the Union to the best of my abilities and learnt a lot of critical lessons which I carry along into main stream politics.

One of the critical lessons I learnt is that leadership is a bitter-sweet roller coaster experience which has really shaped and toughened me for the new chapter of my life starting today. I have learnt that leadership can be a very lonely path to ply; I can also tell you that leadership can expose you to insults, vilification and many a time unjustified violent attacks from people who do not even know you or have had the opportunity to engage with you. But I also learnt that when you persevere in the face of all the challenges, leadership gives one the opportunity to fulfil their God-given traits of excellence and unlocks doors which are closed.

I take consolation in the fact that great men and women who offered themselves to serve suffered same. The persecution of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ readily comes to mind, he was spat on, molested, beaten, disgraced and crucified in his quest to save you and I.  President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo in his quest to serve this great country of ours-Ghana had to suffer a similar fate. Unprintable things were said about him, some arrogated to themselves the role of God and said he could never ever be President, others said he was cursed, some said he was a violent man when indeed his life’s journey pointed to a defender of human rights and a staunch nonviolent activist who played lead roles in several nonviolent demonstrations.  Fast forward to today Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is the President of the Republic of Ghana.  As the old Akan adage goes “Ma yenfa ntowoso na emanoyeho”, to wit: Let them say about you but don’t let it be so about you. The life of our President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo–Addo has been a great source of inspiration for me.

I wish to state unequivocally and without a shred of doubt that I very much understand the tortuous nature of the path I have chosen and very well prepared for the journey learning from the experiences of some great leaders.

I am very clear in my mind that it is time to rethink Asante Akyem South. Juaso the capital of Asante Akyem South used to be the gateway of Asante Akyem but today, both Agogo and Konongo have overtaken us. Our past MPs and incumbent Hon. Lawyer Kwaku Asante Boateng have all done their part. It’s now time for the youth to come in and also do their part.  We need a new leader who will work closely with the Assembly, Nananom and the people on a comprehensive development strategy for the constituency with special focus on Agriculture, job creation, youth and women empowerment and infrastructural development.

If cleared by the vetting committee and given the nod by the NPP delegates of Asante Akyem South to be their parliamentary candidate, I promise a new kind of leadership premised on hard work, dedication, commitment, perseverance and most importantly excellence in a bottom up approach. That is what I represent.

For me, the upcoming 2020 general elections remains a very important and strategic one for our great Party, the New Patriotic Party. I am of the firm belief that Four More Years for Nana is non-negotiable considering the very successful first term of our great President and leader. But we can only achieve that through unity of purpose, hard work, dedication, perseverance, commitment and excellence which defines my person.

In due course I will announce my core campaign message and launch my manifesto after the vetting committee’s work is done and cleared to contest.

I wish all aspirants the very best as we keenly contest each other in a healthy way. May it never be said of Asante Akyem South that we engaged in very dirty campaigns, let us always remember that our great Party thrives on development in freedom.  A house divided against itself shall not stand. I, therefore, pledge my full commitment to run a very clean message-based campaign since I stand for the collective good of our great party and believe that a strong NPP inures to our collective benefit.

In conclusion, I emphasise once again that it is time to rethink Asante Akyem South and to bring it back to its lost glory and limelight of prominence and to inspire new hope.  I however contend that hope is not a strategy. We, therefore, have to take bold and deliberate action to elevate the Asante Akyem South Constituency and help consolidate our party’s gains and to increase the votes of our inspirational and visionary leader Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo so help me God.

I am very confident about this new chapter of my life because I know the author; the author is my Lord and saviour JESUS CHRIST.

God bless Asante Akyem South

God bless the New Patriotic Party

God bless our homeland Ghana.

Thank you once again.