The tone was yesterday set for what could be an exciting and keen contest for the NPP presidential flagbearership when 11 presidential hopefuls picked nomination forms amid fanfare. Some of the aspirants stormed the party's headquarters at Asylum Down in Accra with their ecstatic supporters and brass band music, singing victory songs, while others picked the forms in a quiet manner, almost unnoticed by the large crowd of media personnel, some of whom had come all the way from Kumasi, Cape Coast and Takoradi. There was a spirit of camaraderie among the aspirants as they exchanged pleasantries, perhaps expressing their resolve to engage in a healthy campaign. Although a two-month period has been allocated for the picking of the forms, the aspirants made their intentions clearly known by picking their forms on the first day. Those who picked their forms personally included Mr Jake Otanka Obetsebi-Lamptey, former Minister of Tourism and Diasporan Relations; Papa Owusu-Ankomah, former Minister of Education, Science and Sports, and Mr Boakye Agyarko, a former Vice-President of the Bank of New York. The rest were Mr. Kwabena Agyepong, a former Presidential Spokesperson for President Kufuor; Prof Mike Oquaye, a former Minister of Communications and Captain Nkrabea Effah-Darteh, a former Deputy Minister of the Interior. Mr Dan Botwe, a former Minister of Information, Mr Alan Kyerematen, a former Minister of Trade, Industry, Private Sector Development and PSI, Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor, a former Minister of Defence, and Mr John Kwame Kodua, Ghana's Ambassador to Cuba, sent representatives to pick forms for them while Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku's nomination forms were picked by his wife, Mrs Ellen Apraku. All the aspirants but Mr Kodua paid GH¢500 (¢5 million) each in banker's draft for the nomination forms. Mr Kodua paid for his forms in cash. Although Messrs Obetsebi-Lamptey and Agyarko were the first to arrive at the headquarters, they came in a quiet manner, but Papa Owusu-Ankomah was ushered in by some supporters in yellow T-shirts and holding yellow flags. The group of supporters that accompanied him was drawn from the regions and transported to the place in buses that followed the aspirant's convoy. Of interest to many, especially reporters who had converged on the party's headquarters, was a brass band group wearing T-shirts bearing the picture of Prof Oquaye who brought in their aspirant, accompanied by a few supporters. Captain Effah-Darteh, who was the toast of most reporters, stunned many when he walked from his office, Citizens Centre at Asylum Down, about 300 metres away from the party's headquarters wearing a white linen shirt with the image of an elephant and the inscription 'Captain Effah-Darteh'. He was surrounded by eight supporters wearing similar attire and a group of bodyguards in black suits and dark sunglasses. Almost all the aspirants granted interviews to the media and Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey described the hearty welcome he had received from party faithful around the country as encouraging. He said his vision included promoting the development of the country by improving the tourism industry to become the number one foreign exchange earner for the country. He said he was capable of achieving his noble objective, as he had demonstrated that by helping the Kufuor government to chalk up some successes. Papa Owusu-Ankomah was very optimistic that the winner of the December 22 congress would surely be the next chief executive of the country, stressing that the NPP was, by all standards going to win the presidency for the third time running. He described the response from the would-be delegates as positive because they shared in his vision. "God willing, with my vision, commitment and with the support of the delegates, I will be the next president of Ghana," he said. He promised not only to make the NPP an electoral machine but also an institution that would be able to meet the aspirations of the rank and file of the party. Mr Agyarko said it was time to make his service available because of the love he had for the country and Ghanaians. He said he had worked in the US for the benefit of Americans and improvement in the lives of other people. He said he had gone through a maturation process that had equipped him with a great deal of skills in both technical negotiation and management and executive decision making and that it was time to make those skills available for the benefit of Ghanaians. Mr Agyepong said he respected the political maturity of the delegates who had always done the right thing at all NPP congresses since the formation of the party and expressed optimism that he would emerge the winner. He said the delegates were wide awake and knew the aspirant who would secure the presidency for the NPP again and said "that person is Kwabena Agyepong". Prof. Mike Oquaye described himself as a true party man and recounted the leading role he had played in the party, including being a founding member of the NPP and serving at all levels of the party from constituency chairman to the national level as well as becoming a minister of state. Source: Daily Graphic