Tema — The former Member of Parliament (MP) for Tema East, Ishmael Ashittey, has indicated that he will soon join the race to become the Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP). This is because according to him, he stands very tall among all the party members who have declared their intentions to contest for the position.

Speaking in an interview with the paper in Tema last Wednesday, on his intentions to join the Greater Accra regional chairmanship race, Ashittey, who is a former Minister of Fisheries said what the party needs now is someone who is a unifier to bring all the factions in the party together for a united and strong NPP, stating that is what he stands for.

He said, he had no intentions whatsoever to hold any position in the party, but now he is considering joining the race. His decision was born out of the fact that both Dr. Nyaho Tamakloe and Mr. Ayikoe Otu who have declared their intensions to contest the position cannot unite the party.

"That is why I am considering offering myself for the position", he said, adding that he has consulted very widely and the response has been lovely. Explaining why he believes Dr. Tamakloe is not fit for the position, he hinted that most people in and outside of the party believe that Nyaho Tamakloe is a firebrand party man, but that is not the type of person the party needs at the moment.

He hinted that the party at this time in its history needs someone who can unite the party and come out with a good strategy, so that they can fashion out ways and means that will help them win the 2012 general elections. In the case of Ayikwei Otu, he said he got to know him when he was made Minister of Justice and Attorney General in the Kufour administration, and knowing very well that the party has a tradition of voting for people who are very much known in the party when it came to such positions, he may not get the support of the rank and file of the party.

He revealed that but for the division and factionalism that permeated through the rank and file of the party, especially on the eve of the 2008 general election, NPP would have retained power, adding that the divisions in the party still exit. "What happened for us to lose the election to the NDC is still happening and if we are not able to work on that and arrest the situation, then it will be difficult for us to take power back from the NDC".

The former MP explained that in his constituency for example, it looks as if there are three factions- Ashittey faction, Ashong Narh faction and Obeng Fosu faction, stressing that this does not augur well for the forward match of the party.

He indicated that as a result of the division in the party, if someone from one of the factions organizes an event, no matter how well it will benefit the party, members of the other factions will never participate, and that according to him, is what is tearing the party apart. He however hinted that he has already started working towards bringing all of them together.