There is seemingly tension in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) branch of the Jaman South constituency in the Bono Region over the recent held constituency elections held there.
Some aggrieved members of the party in the constituency have accused the current party executives of organising what they termed fictitious polling station, electoral area and constituency elections, without the laid down procedure of the party.
They have therefore appealed to the National Council of the NPP to investigate the issue and possibly direct for a re-run of the elections from the polling station, electoral areas to the constituency.
It would be recalled that, the Jaman South constituency of the NPP were part of the constituencies that were excluded from the regional executives elections held in May last year following a court injunction.
Spokesperson for the aggrieved group, Godfred Kwang in a statement and copied to the Ghanaian Times indicated that the current executives compiled a new album and went ahead to conduct elections without the supervision of the Electoral Commission.
This, the group believed was legal and that they could not recognised the elected as legitimate leaders of the party in the constituency.
They noted that the situation had created tension and division within the party and if not addressed would affect the party chances of wrestling the parliamentary seat, the NPP lost to the National Democratic Congress in the 2020 general election.
However, at press briefing in Drobo on Sunday, Mr Samuel Obeng Takyi, constituency secretary for the Jaman South NPP denied the allegations, describing the issues raised by the group as mere distractions to court disaffection for the new executives of the party for the area.
According to him, the National Council of the party set up a new committee headed by Mr Abdul Razak Oppong, the regional youth organiser to organise the delegates’ conference to elect constituency executives to replace the old committee whose term of office had expired.
He said the elections were held on Saturday May 7, 2022 at Awasuman SHS, at Dwenem where the current constituency officers were duly elected, adding that, “there was a voter turnout of 94 per cent, one of the highest in recent times, despite the aggrieved group calling on party members to boycott the elections,” he said.
“Indeed the Electoral commission is required to supervise the internal elections of the party, but for whatever reasons if they are unable to discharge that mandate, the party has the mandate to organise the elections, Mr Obeng Takyi explained at the briefing.
He therefore, called on the National Council of the party to disregard the allegations and focus on the upcoming parliamentary and presidential primaries geared toward the 2024 general election.
FROM DANIEL DZRISAH, SUNYANI
