As the Flagbearership race of the Governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) intensifies, it is believed that the current Member of Parliament (MP) for the Essikado-Ketan Constituency, Joe Ghartey, will lace his shoes to officially announce his interest as a better better alternative to the sought after victory of the NPP in the next General elections scheduled for December 2024.
His underground campaign is said to be in high spirits as the party prepares to elect it’s leader for the 2024 Presidential and Parliamentary elections. The MP has confirmed his intentions to stand for the Presidential Primaries in an exclusive interview with ghananewsonline.com.gh.
Even though Mr. Ghartey hails from the Western and Central Regions, he views Volta/Oti as his third and fourth Regions and history has supported this claim.
Historically, Mr. Ghartey stayed in Hohoe, the original Volta Region for over 10 years in the early 80s and 90s.
His relationships with the original Volta Region started long before his political career, and this was confirmed by Torgbui Ayim IV, Divisional Chief of Gbi- Bla of Hohoe in a video sighted by this reporter.
In 1992 when NPP was formed, Joe Ghartey was instrumental in the development of the Party in the original Volta Region. He has supported the Region financially since then with his latest being a contribution he made to the development of the Regional Office for the Party. In the 2020 elections, Joe Ghartey supplied the Region with motorcycles and other logistics and finances.
Not one to advertise everything he does, investigations have revealed his deep links in the Region. When he was confronted with this, Joe Ghartey smiled and said “blessed are those who have not seen but yet believe”.
He said the only poll that matters is the election and he is confident of the result.
Joe Ghartey is a Ghanaian lawyer, academician, and politician. He was the Attorney-General of Ghana, between the year 2006-2009, the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament from 2013 to 2017, and the Railways and Development Minister from 2017 to 2021.
Joe Ghartey’s mother hails from Western Region, and his father from Central Region. Joe Ghartey was born and bred in the Greater Accra Region where he stayed and worked in till he attained adulthood.
By Edzorna Francis Mensah