By Dennis Peprah, GNA
Tanoso (A/R), May 23, GNA – The New Patriotic Party (NPP) delegates in the Tano North Constituency of the Ahafo Region are upset about the cancellation of the constituency election for the second time.
They have therefore called on the national leadership of the NPP to intervene to ensure the right thing was done for the conduct of the constituency elections and also address emerging factionalism in the Party.
Failure to do so, according to the delegates, would not augur well for the Party in the election 2024, and consequently narrow the chances of the NPP to break the eight.
About 691 delegates, including polling station executives, council of elders, electoral area coordinators and council of patrons of the Party were drawn from the 128 polling stations in the constituency.
On Sunday May 22, 2022, the delegates gathered at the Shekinah Lodge at Tanoso for the conduct of the Constituency elections, but they were shocked when the announcement came that it had been cancelled.
All was already set for the conduct of the polls with the Police-Military presence to maintain law and order, though the environment was calm.
Tempers were however flared up over the cancellation of the polls to elect new executives to lead the Party in the Constituency for the Election 2024.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), many of the aggrieved delegates expressed disappointment in the national executives of the NPP over the current situation in the Party in the constituency and asked the national leadership to be proactive enough and address emerging challenges in the Party.
“I think the NPP is not ready to break the eight. In fact the Party in general is not serious and the leadership is also playing chances with the Election 2024. If we continue with this attitude we would all be shocked about the outcome of the next general election”, Mr. Janamah Biiyien, an Aspirant vying for the Second Vice Chairman position of the party in the constituency stated.
“Nobody is praying for doom, but it is glaring that our Party structures are not working and this is going to affect us negatively and narrow our fortunes in 2024. We have suffered for the Party and we would not sit unconcerned for the few supporters in the constituency to frustrate us. So the leadership must intervene before the unexpected happened”, he added.
“If we are serious as a Party we can’t allow our honourable delegates to come and sit here since morning and only to inform them that the election had been cancelled without any tangible or apparent reasons”, Mr. Gabriel Ankomah, the incumbent constituency secretary indicated.
He explained the Party’s Constituency Elections Committee held an emergency meeting with the security agencies and the Ahafo Regional Electoral Commission (EC) the previous day where it was agreed the election was to be conducted on Sunday, May 22.
“We have already set the venue, and the majority of the delegates who have arrived for the elections only receive information from the EC that Mr. Ernest Kwarteng, the Tano North Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) has call-off the elections on the grounds of security reasons”.
“This is disgusting. We must do things right because we can’t allow some few people to disintegrate our front and frustrate the election process for their selfish reasons and interest because if we allow that to happen then the NPP is going to bear the brunt”, Mr Ankomah stated.
Mr. Charles Gyamfi Prempeh, the NPP Chairman of the Council of Elders in the Constituency said the Council of Elders was unhappy about the unfortunate events unfolding in the Party in recent times.
He regretted that few elements within were bent on destroying the Party in the constituency, saying “we have all concluded to hold the elections, but look at what these few people are doing”.
“Have you witnessed any chaos or misunderstanding since you arrived here? This is an indication that some people have adopted calculated attempts to frustrate the election process. The same thing happened the last time we intended to conduct the elections and the delegates can’t continue with that”, Mr. Prempeh stated.
Meanwhile, a letter signed by Mr. Kwarteng, the MCE, addressed to the Ahafo EC and sighted by the GNA indicated “the situation is not conducive for the conduct of the elections”.
“The Municipal Security Council has gathered intelligence that the EC has declined invitation to supervise the elections. There is a strong opposition to the conduct of the election from within the Party”, it stated.
“On the basis of the above the Security Council strongly recommends that the election should be suspended until further notice, to avoid any disturbances in the Constituency”, the letter which was copied to Mr. George Yaw Boakye, the Ahafo Regional Minister stated.
GNA
