Prof. Kwabena Frimpong Boateng
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6th April, 2010
I AM THE TRUE UNIFIER IN NPP - FRIMPONG BOATENG
Professor Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, Ghana’s first cardiothoracic surgeon, has once again declared his intention to contest the flagbearership position of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
He told the Times in an interview on Sunday that, the majority of people in the party consider him as “the true and genuine unifier who can bring all the factions in the NPP together to defeat the NDC in 2012.”
Professor Frimpong Boateng said there was too much acrimony between the supporters of Nana Akufo Addo and Allan Kyerematen, which did not augur well for the NPP as an opposition party.
On why the NPP lost power in 2008 to the NDC, Professor Kwabena Frimpong Boateng said the NPP lost because “we did not conduct the campaign well.”
He said the voters did not understand the campaign message of the NPP.
He pointed out that, while the NDC embarked on door-to-door campaign, the NPP, organised big rallies and concerts which attracted large crowds but lacked “intimacy based on one-to-one contact.”
Commenting on why he did not win the flagbearership for 2008 election, Prof Frimpong Boateng said he did not actually lose that contest.
“What happened at that time, was that, most of 17 contestants induced the delegates with money and other gifts, which influenced the outcome of the vote,” he said and added. “I was not disappointed when I lost. I was only sad for Ghana because I think I was the best.”
On his pedigree in the NPP, Prof Frimpong Boateng said he grew up with his grandfather, who was a member of the United Party (UP) in 1958 and took him to their rallies many times.
He said in 1964, when the UP members were forced to join the CXPP, he rejected it.
Prof Frimpong Boateng said in 1969, when he was at the university, he campaigned for Prof K.A. Busia and was against the UNIGOV concept in 1977, which resulted in his being sacked from his official bungalow in Kumasi.
“That was why I left for Germany and later became a cardiothoracic surgeon,” he said.
He said, he had rediscovered himself in the NPP because that party espoused the tenets of fundamental human rights.
“I cannot associate with any political party which did not respect these fundamental human rights,” he said.
He said he was confident of winning the 2012 elections for the NPP, because as presidential candidate he would do things differently to attract more votes.
“My track record for the good work done at Korle-Bu, running the most successful Heart Foundation where people pay only 50 per cent for heart surgery, and my anti corruption posture, are some of the characteristics that have endeared me to people as a true unifier,” he said.
He said he was more than marketable as Presidential candidate because he was well known in Ghana and abroad.
“My name is branded and associated with excellence, discipline, resilience, hard work, commitment and uncompromising determination to succeed. I am also firm, fair and just,’ he pointed out.
Asked how he was going to raise funds for his campaign and also pay the GH¢50,000 filing fee for flagbearers, Prof Frimpong Boateng said he had not been notified yet as to how much flagbearers were to pay.
He said, his friends, admirers, and sympathizers were however ready to provide the money he needed to embark on a successful campaign for his presidential ambitions.
To his critics who say Ghanaians need a heart surgeon, who should be saving lives at the hospital, instead of being a president, Prof Boateng said he had trained many cardio surgeons within the last 35 years to take over from him.
He said, he needed to step out, and get them resources to enable them blossom.
“If I continued to stay at Korle-Bu, the place would collapse from inaction because the newly trained surgeons would not have ample space and freedom to improve their lot,” he said.
Prof Frimpong Boateng also commented on Ghana’s emerging oil gas industry and said “we should conduct ourselves as if we do not have oil, because we already have a lot of resources which we could tap into.”
He said if Ghana managed her gold resources well, “we would not need anything else.”
Prof Frimpong Boateng said Ghana should have been adding value to her primary products like cocoa, adding that the juice from the ripe cocoa pod could be extracted and turned into sugar and alcohol for use in the hospitals and in the provision of alcoholic beverages and wine.
Prof Frimpong Boateng said he had forseen unscrupulous officials stealing Ghana’s oil from the high seas and called for constant vigilance by the security agencies especially, the Navy.
He promised to live by example and swore never to steal money from the state coffers, should he become the president of the country.
Prof Frimpong Boateng concluded the “I believe that, if the NPP wants to win the 2012 elections, they should not look far, but turn to Prof Frimpong Boateng.”
He told the Times in an interview on Sunday that, the majority of people in the party consider him as “the true and genuine unifier who can bring all the factions in the NPP together to defeat the NDC in 2012.”
Professor Frimpong Boateng said there was too much acrimony between the supporters of Nana Akufo Addo and Allan Kyerematen, which did not augur well for the NPP as an opposition party.
On why the NPP lost power in 2008 to the NDC, Professor Kwabena Frimpong Boateng said the NPP lost because “we did not conduct the campaign well.”
He said the voters did not understand the campaign message of the NPP.
He pointed out that, while the NDC embarked on door-to-door campaign, the NPP, organised big rallies and concerts which attracted large crowds but lacked “intimacy based on one-to-one contact.”
Commenting on why he did not win the flagbearership for 2008 election, Prof Frimpong Boateng said he did not actually lose that contest.
“What happened at that time, was that, most of 17 contestants induced the delegates with money and other gifts, which influenced the outcome of the vote,” he said and added. “I was not disappointed when I lost. I was only sad for Ghana because I think I was the best.”
On his pedigree in the NPP, Prof Frimpong Boateng said he grew up with his grandfather, who was a member of the United Party (UP) in 1958 and took him to their rallies many times.
He said in 1964, when the UP members were forced to join the CXPP, he rejected it.
Prof Frimpong Boateng said in 1969, when he was at the university, he campaigned for Prof K.A. Busia and was against the UNIGOV concept in 1977, which resulted in his being sacked from his official bungalow in Kumasi.
“That was why I left for Germany and later became a cardiothoracic surgeon,” he said.
He said, he had rediscovered himself in the NPP because that party espoused the tenets of fundamental human rights.
“I cannot associate with any political party which did not respect these fundamental human rights,” he said.
He said he was confident of winning the 2012 elections for the NPP, because as presidential candidate he would do things differently to attract more votes.
“My track record for the good work done at Korle-Bu, running the most successful Heart Foundation where people pay only 50 per cent for heart surgery, and my anti corruption posture, are some of the characteristics that have endeared me to people as a true unifier,” he said.
He said he was more than marketable as Presidential candidate because he was well known in Ghana and abroad.
“My name is branded and associated with excellence, discipline, resilience, hard work, commitment and uncompromising determination to succeed. I am also firm, fair and just,’ he pointed out.
Asked how he was going to raise funds for his campaign and also pay the GH¢50,000 filing fee for flagbearers, Prof Frimpong Boateng said he had not been notified yet as to how much flagbearers were to pay.
He said, his friends, admirers, and sympathizers were however ready to provide the money he needed to embark on a successful campaign for his presidential ambitions.
To his critics who say Ghanaians need a heart surgeon, who should be saving lives at the hospital, instead of being a president, Prof Boateng said he had trained many cardio surgeons within the last 35 years to take over from him.
He said, he needed to step out, and get them resources to enable them blossom.
“If I continued to stay at Korle-Bu, the place would collapse from inaction because the newly trained surgeons would not have ample space and freedom to improve their lot,” he said.
Prof Frimpong Boateng also commented on Ghana’s emerging oil gas industry and said “we should conduct ourselves as if we do not have oil, because we already have a lot of resources which we could tap into.”
He said if Ghana managed her gold resources well, “we would not need anything else.”
Prof Frimpong Boateng said Ghana should have been adding value to her primary products like cocoa, adding that the juice from the ripe cocoa pod could be extracted and turned into sugar and alcohol for use in the hospitals and in the provision of alcoholic beverages and wine.
Prof Frimpong Boateng said he had forseen unscrupulous officials stealing Ghana’s oil from the high seas and called for constant vigilance by the security agencies especially, the Navy.
He promised to live by example and swore never to steal money from the state coffers, should he become the president of the country.
Prof Frimpong Boateng concluded the “I believe that, if the NPP wants to win the 2012 elections, they should not look far, but turn to Prof Frimpong Boateng.”
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