Former President John Agyekum Kufour has called on all NPP executives across the country to uphold the democratic pillar of the party by obeying the directive from the party’s headquarters to allow all aspirants to obtain nomination forms for the party’s forthcoming primaries.
In a strange twist of events, many constituencies of the NPP in the Ashanti region are refusing some aspirants nomination forms and hence denying them the opportunity to contest the party’s parliamentary primaries. This is going on with the blessing of the regional executives of the party and threatens to divide the NPP as many are already angry and preparing for massive demonstrations and court actions.
The issue has persisted despite the intervention of party elders, founding members and even the national leadership of the party. Though no one knows where the Ashanti regional chairman of the NPP and his executives draw their authority from, it seems they are running a different show from what the constitution of the party and the national leadership of the party is demanding.
The latest to add his voice to the debacle in the Ashanti region is former President John Agyekum Kufour. In an interview on Kumasi-based Otec FM, the highly respected Statesman stated emphatically that the NPP is a legal entity with a constitution which should be obeyed by any well-meaning member of the party.
“The NPP is a democratic party and the power resides with the people. It is the people who decide who becomes MP or otherwise. The party does not belong to any individual” he said and added…”are nomination forms mined in Obuasi mines?”
He said the party is a national party and not a local party and once the Headquarters has spoken, all local officers have to tow the line.
Former President Kufour gave a brief history of the party detailing his role in the rich history of the party and explained the role of the democratic principles of the party in the party’s growth.
He chastised those acting ultra vires the party’s constitution and stated that anyone going against the constitution and democratic principles of the party are rather destructive elements who should not be in the party.
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