- "Everybody seeks to go forward. The last time there was a presidential election I stood. If there is another one, God willing, I will stand."
Joe Ghartey, the Minister for Railways Development, has served notice that he will stand for the presidential nomination of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the lead-up to the 2024 general election.
“I have been in this party since 1992 [and] served the party loyally,” the MP for Essikado-Ketan told the sit-in host of Sunday Night, Kojo Mensah. “I have served various people in the party. I don’t see myself joining another party at all.”
Asked whether he still eyes the highest political position of the nation, he said: “Everybody seeks to go forward. The last time there was a presidential [candidate] election I stood. If there is another one, God willing, I will stand.”
Ghartey garnered 22 votes (or 2.98%) out of 740 votes cast during the last presidential primaries of the governing NPP, which Nana Akufo-Addo won with an overwhelming 81%.
Re-election
In the just ended Election 2020, Ghartey, out of 52,392 votes cast, polled 26,701 to retain the Essikado-Ketan parliamentary seat. His closest contender, the National Democratic Congress parliamentary candidate, Grace Ayensu-Danquah, secured 24,527 votes while the candidate of the Ghana Union Movement (GUM) had 629.
Ghana Railway Company Ltd has since congratulated Ghartey on his fifth consecutive election as the MP for Essikado-Ketan in the Western Region.
Contribution
Ghartey has worked as a foot soldier for the NPP and was part of the team that wrote the book Stolen Verdict for the party after the 1992 general election. At that time, he was chairman of the NPP disciplinary committee for the Greater Accra Region, under the regional chairmanship of Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, now deceased.
Ghartey also chaired the session of the NPP national conference that amended the partys constitution on 22 August 2009 at the Trade Fair Centre in Accra to expand the electoral college to the present 100,000-plus delegates.
Furthermore, he was a member of the four-member committee appointed by the NPP National Council to review the conduct of the 2012 election petition case and to make recommendations to the Council.
Watch the full interview on Sunday Night below:
Fred Dzakpata
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