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 Alan, Nana Addo
The countdown to the August 7, 2010 congress of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is gathering momentum as the Council of Elders of the largest opposition political grouping in the country engages with the five aspirants campaigning to lead the party.
The engagement, which is scheduled to take place at the NPP national headquarters, Accra, will be chaired by Clement Tedam, Council of Elders Chairman and former member of the Council of State today at 2:30pm, DAILY GUIDE has learnt from a statement authored by the Communications Director of the party, Kwaku Kwarteng. The outcome of today’s meeting will perhaps allay the fears by party supporters that the congress date might have to be reviewed, given the threats to resort to the court for an injunction to suspend the internal polls, by some aggrieved persons seeking to lead the party for the 2012 polls. The party headquarters deliberations will have in attendance the Election Committee of the party. Although we have not laid hands on the agenda for the meeting, DAILY GUIDE can report that coming on the heels of the recent press conference by some aspirants of the party over their disagreements with aspects of the pre-congress arrangements, the internal polling will be high on the agenda. Besides deliberating upon the forthcoming congress, logistics et al, the elders, it is believed, will seek to mitigate the heat generated by the ongoing campaign by the individual aspirants and their minders. The register or album of delegates has been a subject of controversy in the past few weeks, culminating in the last week press conference, during which media personnel put the conveners on the carpet over the integrity of the objections raised by the four aspirants. All but one of the aspirants had, during the press conference, queried the integrity of the album, threatening to withdraw support for it ahead of the August 7th congress. The possibility of an application for an injunction to stop the August 7th congress from taking place is being considered by some aggrieved persons, should the grey areas they have pointed go un- addressed. Spokespersons for Prof. Kwabena Frempong-Boateng, Isaac Osei, John Kodua and Alan Kyerematen, the aspirants, had during the press conference, damned the Electoral Committee whose documentary guide in the party polls they described as “an electoral register in disarray.” Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Chairman of the NPP, appearing un-amused by the naggings of the aspirants, remarked that he could not fathom what the aspirants were complaining about, as he passed the voters’ register as a credible document worth working with, adding that the party had discussed at length with the aspirants earlier. The health of the party’s kitty was a subject of media interrogation recently when reports were filed to the effect that the party was in financial crisis and may have to turn elsewhere for the funding of the forthcoming crucial congress. The forthcoming race over who bears the NPP flag in 2012 stands at one of the most keenly contested electoral engagements in the history of the party, pitching mainly the man who led the political grouping in the very close polls of 2008, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, against Alan Kyerematen, Prof. Kwabena Frempong-Boateng, Isaac Osei and John Kodua. The campaigns have occasionally been characterized by scathing verbal exchanges by supporters of the aspirants, an anomaly which attracted calls for ceasefire by concerned party persons. Earlier last month, the National Chairman and General Secretary met with the aspirants, followed by a series of meetings between the elders and representatives of the aspirants.
The Election Committee had also engaged with the aspirants on 5th July, 2010. The NPP will remain the cynosure of the country and beyond, ahead of the August 7 date, especially how the party heals the wounds that would be sustained before, during and immediately after the congress. Source: Daily Guide
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