The Second National Vice-Chair for the New
Patriotic Party (NPP), Frederick Fredua Antoh, has denied declaring the
Majority Leader and Member of Parliament (MP) for Suame, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu
as an unopposed candidate for Election 2020.
Mr Anto is alleged to be rooting for Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu
to go unopposed in the party’s upcoming primaries scheduled for April 2020.
According to Mr Anto, the Majority Leader has
served the party diligently over the years and deserved to contest the next
general election unopposed without any party member contesting him at the
party’s primaries.
Mr Anto added that Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu’s
performance in Parliament is incomparable, stressing that he (Anto) would have
willingly offered him (Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu) the opportunity to go unopposed if he
had the political will.
“If I had the power, one person I would have
chosen to go unopposed is Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the Majority Leader in
Parliament.
He has served the party diligently for all
these years. Look at his history, he does not joke with his work. I would have
loved that he goes unopposed, he has served the party very well,” Mr Antoh who
is also a former Ashanti Regional Chairman of NPP said in an interview.
However Mr Antoh has since denied he endorsed
the Suame MP.
Reacting to the allegation of endorsement, Mr Anto said the media reports were misleading.
He insisted he did have not the power to
declare any person unopposed in the parliamentary primaries.
“A question was put to me that if I have the
power, who will I declare unopposed. I have been a teacher before and I
understand questions and answers so well.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu is my friend and I know how much he has toiled for this party, so indeed he is deserving enough and if I have that power, I will have declared him unopposed but unfortunately there is no such power granted to me to do that.”
Relatedly, a leading member of the NPP, Dr
Kwame Amoako Tuffour has stated that imposing incumbent Members of Parliament
(MPs) in Ashanti Region on constituents will result in acrimony among party
members.
Dr Tuffour advised that aspiring MPs should be
given the chance to contest in the party’s upcoming primaries in April this
year.
Dr Tuffour explained that aggrieved members of
the party could vote and “skirt and blouse” during the December general
election which may have dire consequences on the party.
The Ashanti Regional Chairman of NPP Bernard
Antwi Boasiako in a recent interview said all sitting MPs in the Ashanti region
should go unopposed.
But speaking with in an interview on Accra FM,
Dr Tuffour expressed dissatisfaction with the suggestion by the regional
chairman, stressing that dictatorship would only create division in the party.
He questioned if incumbent MPs would have been
occupying their seats if their predecessors blocked them from contesting for
their positions.
“What is going on is not right, it will create
acrimony among members. Imposing incumbent MPs in the Ashanti Region on constituents
is not the best, we will only create disunity if we go by that decision.
Everybody must be given a fair playing field. Some of the MPs are my friends, sons, but truth be told, would the sitting MPs be where they are now if they were blocked from contesting with their predecessors,” he asked.
-kasapafm.com
