By Perdita AGYARKO
Youth leader Steve Nhyira Odaiteifio has entered the contest for National Youth Organizer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), promising to challenge what he described as the growing influence of money politics in the party’s internal affairs.
Launching his campaign at the Ghana International Press Centre in Accra on Monday, Odaiteifio said the choice before NDC delegates was whether political leadership should be determined by financial strength or by ideas, service, character and demonstrated impact.
He said his campaign would focus on rebuilding the economic prospects of young members of the party while creating a youth wing that could translate political mobilisation into tangible opportunities for its grassroots supporters.
“We stand at a crossroads where we must decide whether the leadership of this nation shall be determined by the depth of a person’s ideas or the depth of a person’s pockets,” he said.
Odaiteifio cited his involvement in agriculture, skills training and enterprise development, claiming that his initiatives had impacted more than 100,000 young Ghanaians.
He argued that the NDC youth wing required a leadership approach that went beyond election-time mobilisation and instead provided sustained economic empowerment for young people.
The candidate also sought to position his campaign within the historical tradition of the NDC, invoking the legacies of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Yaa Asantewaa and former President Jerry John Rawlings.
He described Rawlings as an example of how individuals without established political power could rise through determination and eventually shape a political tradition.
According to him, the NDC must continue to create opportunities for younger members to take up leadership responsibilities based on their contribution and capacity rather than their financial resources or political connections.
Addressing party activists, branch organisers, unemployed graduates and other grassroots members, Odaiteifio said their contributions to the party should translate into opportunities for personal and economic advancement.
“To every young comrade who feels unseen, to every foot soldier who feels forgotten: your future cannot be chained to somebody else’s definition of when you are ready,” he said.
He further urged young party members to see the current period as an opportunity to demand greater participation in the party’s leadership and decision-making processes.
Odaiteifio’s declaration adds another voice to the contest for leadership of the NDC’s youth wing, with his campaign centred on grassroots participation, economic empowerment and a rejection of what he characterises as transactional politics.
