The Director-General of the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA) Mr. Stephen Asamoah Boateng, popularly called Asabee has urged members of the Tertiary Students Confederacy (TESCON), (the students wing of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP)) to be loyal to the party even in hard times.
He explained that loyalty in a party makes the party stronger as its energy is directed at building members’ capacities to engage its opponents.
Speaking on the theme “Youth in Development through New Media & Digitization” at a handing over ceremony and seminar organised by the Valley View University branch of TESCON at Oyibi, near Accra, Asabee emphasised the need for unity at all levels within the party and added that unity prevents internal wrangling.
He said that in instances where members disagree with each other on issues, the best way to resolve the disagreement is to argue it out for the superior argument to win.
“Going forward, you as the next generation must sacrifice because that is what the older people did. I prefer to use the word loyalty more than sacrifice. You must be loyal to the party. Unfortunately, in the NPP, sometimes we fight our own.
“If you disagree with somebody, put up a better and persuasive argument to convince the person to follow your argument. There is no need to fight them. Understand that you may disagree on an issue but when we decide, we all move together in one direction,” he said.
Asabee who is also eyeing the NPP national chairmanship position, further charged the TESCON members to be marketers and sales persons who propagate the party’s good policies and programmes.
“Do not sit on the sidelines and allow opponents dictate their agenda when we have a great party doing well in government.
“Propagating the good works of the NPP will help keep the party in power in order to create more opportunities for its members and the Ghanaian people. If care is not taken and the NPP loses power to the NDC in 2024, they (NDC) will take the country back into hardship after President Akufo-Addo and his government have struggled to fix the mess they left behind”, he stated.
Communication & New Media
According to Asabee, politics is a human centred profession which requires that politicians work with people. He said like every human centred profession, it is important that communication is taken seriously. He therefore advised the TESCON members to engage in logical arguments with opponents when communicating the achievements of the party.
He advised the students to always be on top of issues before they engage in any form of communication aimed at convincing people into buying into the ideas of the party.
“Politics is a human centred profession where you need to work with people and when you are going to work with people, you need to communicate. You must always make logical arguments when you are talking to somebody. Don’t go and rattle and not make sense. You must understand the topic, you must understand the basics, you must understand how you build the principles of that basics and you must understand how you build the conclusion based on the theory you have built”, he told the teeming youth.
Asabee said he believes that by so doing, the students will build their own credibility and standing in the party which will also build their capacity in order for them to be recognised by the party and government to handle any future appointments and positions that become available.
He acknowledged that not every member will get an opportunity or benefit at the same time but said as the party wins back-to-back elections, the more likely majority of its members will get opportunities.
The Director General therefore charged the students to learn from the likes of Kwaku Baako and Kwesi Pratt who have carved a niche for themselves in political communication.
“Try as much as possible to meet often and interact amongst yourselves and encourage each other. Also, try to use your handheld mobile gadgets to reach out to people on social media and tell them about the good works of the NPP”, Asabee advised.
Source: Graphic