…will 1979 repeat itself?
Many political watchers have predicted that if the voices of reason within the New Patriotic Party (NPP) do not take swift and concrete steps to halt the acrimonious and divisive actions of some of its disgruntled members then the party is surely on its way to the political abyss.
These political connoisseurs hold the view that if the heart-rendering and mind- boggling actions and reactions of these dissenters continue on the same tangent, then Party is likely to split into at least two parties just as it did happen ahead of the 1979 presidential and parliamentary elections.
Ahead of that election, members of the then Progress Party of Danquah Busia Tradition split into the United National Convention (UNC), led by William Ofori-Atta on one hand, and the Popular Front Party (PFP), which had Victor Owusu as their leader.
The UNC had in their camp personalities like former Speaker of Parliament, Peter Ala Adjetey, Sam Okudzeto and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, now the NPP Standard bearer, while the PFP could also boast John Agyekum Kufuor and Haruna Esseku.
Daily Dispatch Editor and Pollster, Ben Ephson has also similar observations, saying that the NPP masters of implosion. According Editor Ephson, the elephant family appears to fight among itself only in crucial moments.
“I think that the NPP have become masters of imploding at a very crucial time,” he told Nii Arday Clegg on Starr FM last Friday.
Pro-Afoko supporters besiege party
Last Thursday, hundreds of pro-Afoko supporters besieged the NPP Headquarters in Accra demanding the reinstatement of suspended NPP National Chairman, Paul Afoko.
Amidst heavy police presence, the supporters waved pro-Afoko placards as they mounted pressure on the National Executive Committee to rescind its decision. Placards neatly designed, read “Freddie Blay is not our chairman” Äfoko yes; Blay, No”.
The protest cames after a Paul Afoko suit to reverse his indefinite suspension was on Wednesday, thrown out of court.
At least seven VIP buses brought supposed NPP members from constituencies in the Brong Ahafo and Upper West regions to Accra.
They demanded that the Party musty develop a roadmap to resolve its feud with the suspended National Chairman. In a petition, they described the decision to indefinitely suspend Paul Afoko as “ill-timed, disastrous and destructive”.
One of the leaders of the protesters who gave his name as Abu said, the party must “respect the verdict” of the delegates who voted for Paul Afoko at the National Congress held in Tamale in April 2014.
NPP Director of Protocol, Kojo Antwi Agyei, who received the petition assured the party’s leadership would look into the concerns raised. The pro-Afoko supporters were denied entry into the party headquarters.
There are unconfirmed reports that the group was instigated by suspended Chairman, Paul Afoko.
Group petitions IDU for Nana Addo to step down
In another development, a former Communications Officer to the former National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Jake Obestebi-Lamptey, had also petitioned the International Democrat Union (IDU) for the flagbearer of the party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to step down and resign with immediate effect.
Daniel Baah Acheamfuor, who is also the convener of the ‘SAVE NPP Now’ youth group in a petition to the IDU, said Nana Addo’s resignation would foster peace, cohesion and unity in the NPP ahead of the 2016 general elections.
The statement added that the “clandestine move to suspend the National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party is only a culmination of months of well-coordinated verbal, emotional, psychological and physical abuse including life-threatening manoeuvres intended to side-line the National Chairman as a result of the palpable dislike, contempt and hatred for people of the Northern part of Ghana which the flagbearer has exhibited towards the National Chairman who is a Northerner by tribe through his assigns and loyalists.”
NPP leadership petitioned to show K. Agyepong the exit
And yet in another related development, some members of Party are piling pressure on the leadership of the party to begin processes to oust Kwabena Agyepong as its General Secretary.
Agyepong, a close ally of suspended chairman of the party, Paul Afoko, also appears to have lost favour with some party members who elected him barely a year and half ago.
A petition to the disciplinary committee of the party dated November 2, 2015 and signed by four party members wants him sanctioned for “exhibiting gross misconduct, and engaging in deals tantamount to venality whiles in his elected position as General Secretary”.
The petitioners are Chris Arthur, Former TESCON-KNUST President; Adreba Kwaku Abrefa Damoa, London; Kwabena Afum Dankwa, London; and Kwame Baffoe, NPP Regional Youth Organiser, Brong Ahafo.
They also accused the General Secretary of still holding out Paul Afoko as the National Chairman contrary to the position of the National Executive Committee.
“Kwabena Agyepong has rubbished, and keeps rubbishing the suspension of Afoko from his chairmanship. This in our view is an act of mischievous contempt for the authority of the Party as a whole, including its elders, its leadership, and its structures.”
They are also citing him for taking unilateral decision as a General Secretary with particular mention of a waiver he gave to some party parliamentary aspirants and the launch of a party card.
According to the petitioners, Kwabena Agyepong’s utterances and statements in the media are “always inimical, and counterproductive to the efforts made by the flag bearer, whiles he contributes little or nothing towards building a strong Party, knowing very well that general and Presidential elections are less than a year away.”
They also believed he has been involved in too many misdemeanours which are injurious to the fortunes of the party.
The petitioners are also questioning the allegiance of the NPP General Secretary, accusing him of flirting with the governing National Democratic Congress.
The petition was copied to NPP National Executive Committee, NPP National Council of Elders, the leader and presidential candidate, Nana AKufo-Addo, the Acting NPP National Chairman, and the NPP Deputy General Secretary.
Source: PA News Desk Report / NewsGhana.com.gh
