By: Stephen G. Fellajuah
The National Patriotic Party (NPP) has launched its Membership and Recruitment Drive with a call on its members to reaffirm their membership statuses; the NPP also calls others desiring to become its members to obtain genuine Membership Identification Card that will allow them to partake in the party’s political activities.
The Membership and Recruitment Drive was officially launched yesterday by the Standard bearer of the party, Chief Dr. Jewel Howard-Taylor, at the party’s newly refurbished National Headquarters in Congo Town, Tubman Boulevard. The process, which is expected to be extended to nearby counties and to Southeast region, commenced with Montserrado County
Speaking at the occasion, Vice President Howard-Taylor, who is also the political leader of the party said the crisis period within the NPP is over and that it is now time for all members of the party to come together under one umbrella to commit their support to the institution.
She said the NPP which was established in 1997 has over the years grown into a larger numerical strength and said the membership drive is part of the NPP’s reunification, reunion and fundraising process across Liberia.
“The Membership and Recruitment Drive is to have everybody reaffirm their membership with the National Patriotic Party. A party without a data base is not a party. I still believe that we are the greatest grassroot party across Liberia. That can true, unless we can show numbers and get our identification process and our ID card done”, she explained.
VP Howard-Taylor continued, “The process will show who our people are across the length and breadth of Liberia. We are doing two weeks in Montserrado, then to nearing counties and Southeast. We want everybody who is a member of the National Patriotic Party to have an ID card. We hope that it will help us. We want to make sure that our members are identified properly when we attend meetings.”
Speaking of those expected to form part of the drive, the NPP leader said her party targets genuine NPP members. She expressed that the party will be charging small fee to raise fund for the party’s activities. “We will be paying in two categories, National Executive Committee will be paying US$100.00 each and then the other level of people pay US$50.00. The money will be used to revamp the party’s headquarters as we hope that people can start paying their dues,” she added.
The NPP’s political leader and standard-bearer used the event to call on NPP partisans to take the ID card issue very serious. “If you are sure that you are a member of the National Patriotic Party, I want to make a call out to come to the Party Headquarters in Montserrado County to get your ID card done,” she averred.
She maintained that it will be expected that all of our people will get registered in their respective counties. She warned, “There will come a time if you don’t have ID card you will not enter our meetings because we don’t know who you are.”
For new members coming on board, VP Howard-Taylor noted that there will be probe to make sure that someone doesn’t come from another party, adding that the party will put a small team together to look into the recruitment process of new member coming to the party.
She said it is the hope of the party that by the end of December this year, all NPP members will be identified across the country, revealing that a mobile system will be used across the country to ensure that all NPP partisans get involved in the identification process.
At the same time, she disclosed plan of the party to empower members, saying “When we are through with this identification process we will be thinking about how NPP members can be empowered.
There are lot of programs on our mind on how do we empower our partisans, to make sure that the country becomes self-sufficient through agricultural activities.” She also said that Diaspora NPP will be involved with what the party is doing.
Also speaking at the program, the Chairman of the party, Senator James Biney of Maryland County, appearing enthusiastic of the drives, expressed excitement and extreme happiness, stating that the Standard Bearer and him are jointly launching the Membership and Recruitment Drive to put the party on course for 2023.
“VP Taylor is the standard bearer of the party and I am here basically to give her my absolute support. Everything she said here was based on discussion we had at the executive committee level. So yes, I support her fully”, Chairman Biney noted.
He furthered that the party is very much on course and unifying the party is not just in Monrovia but across the country for a robust participation in the 2023 elections.
“We are all on board, and our party has to move forward. Our party is one of the most democratic parties, one of the most formidable, everybody will have to be on board so that at the end of the day, NPP will be a winner,” the newly elected Senator of Maryland County concluded.
