The Minister of Railways Development, Joe Ghartey, has disclosed he still has a presidential ambition and that he will contest the presidential candidacy slot in year 2024 on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

According to him, he has been a loyalist of the party and served since the introduction of the Fourth Republic and as such nothing prevents him from contesting.

The MP for Essikado-Ketan Constituency made the comments on Sunday Night show on Asaase Radio hosted by Kojo Mensah.

“I have been in this party since 1992 and served the party loyally. I have served various people in the party, I don’t see myself joining another party at all.” He said.

Asked whether he still eyes the highest political position of the nation, he said: “Everybody seeks to go forward. The last time there was a presidential election I stood. If there is another one, God willing, I will stand.”

Ghartey garnered 22 votes representing (2.98%) out of 740 votes cast during the last presidential primaries of the governing NPP, which saw Nana Akufo-Addo winning with an overwhelming 81%.

Re-election


In the just-ended Election 2020, Ghartey out of 52,392 votes cast, polled 24,701 votes to retain the Essikado-Ketan parliamentary seat. His closest contender, the National Democratic Congress’ parliamentary candidate, Grace Ayensu-Danquah, polled 24,527 votes while the candidate of the Ghana Union Movement (GUM) had 629 votes.

The Ghana Railway Company Limited has since congratulated him on his fifth consecutive election as MP for the Essikado-Ketan Constituency in the Western Region.

Contributions

Ghartey has worked as a foot soldier for the NPP and he was part of the team that wrote the book titled ‘Stolen Verdict’ for the party after the 1992 general elections when he was Disciplinary Committee Chairman of the Greater Accra region under the Regional Chairmanship of the late Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey.

Ghartey also chaired the Session of the National Conference that amended the Constitution of the NPP to expand the electoral college to the present college of over 100,000 delegates on 22 August 2009 at the Trade Fair Centre in Accra.

The MP was a member of the four-member committee appointed by the National Council to review the conduct of the recent  2012 election petition case and to make recommendations to the National Council.