Ten (10) suspended Electoral Area Coordinators of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Akyem Oda Constituency of the Eastern Region are fuming over what they call “orchestrated suspension” from the party ostensibly to disenfranchise them from the upcoming parliamentary primaries.
The agitating Electoral Area Coordinators are – Frank Nkansah (Nsenaa Electoral Area), Roland Bruce Appiah (Community 2 electoral area), George Appiah Sakyi – Community 1 electoral area, Michael Morka – Nkwantanum electoral area, and Emmanuel Agbley- coordinator for Asenee electoral area.
The rest are Isaac Obeng Ayim (Srodae electoral area), Appiah Kwabena Asare- (Nyankomasu electoral area), Obed Asamoah (Oda Nkwanta electoral area)
Michael Asamoah (Morning Star electoral area) and Thompson Acquah (Essam electoral area)
These Electoral Area Coordinators say they have suspended arbitrarily upon orders of the Eastern Regional Executives of the NPP on March 22, 2020, twenty-six days after they petitioned the regional executives over bias conduct of the Constituency Chairman Alhaji Awudu Issaka.
“…a petition was written by 10 Electoral Area Coordinators on 23rd February 2020 to the Regional Secretariat for redress. The petition sought to address the conduct of the constituency Chairman Alhaji Awudu Issaka who is a member of the Constituency Parliamentary Elections Committee and as such supposed to remain neutral but was openly seen campaigning in favor of the incumbent Member of Parliament. We have audio evidence of the Constituency Chairman openly addressing a section of party delegates where he sought to imply that President Nana Addo-Danquah Akufo-Addo has ordered constituency Chairmen in Eastern Region to make sure all incumbent Members of Parliament are retained.”
But according to the aggrieved Electoral Area Coordinators, their petition was not attended to rather on the 22nd March 2020; they received a letter from the Regional Secretariat, directing the Constituency Chairman to suspend them indefinitely.”
Shocked by the decision, they filed an appeal at the National Secretariat on 24th March 2020 for redress but executives of the party failed to listen to them.
“We sent a petition to the Regional Executive Committee for them to investigate and call the constituency chairman to order which had nothing to indicate any factionalism on our part.
The Regional Secretariat cannot purport to have suspended us without giving us a fair hearing which is against the rule of natural justice. We wish to state that the Regional Secretariat instead of lodging a complaint against us, as stated in article 4 clause 3 subsections (6&7a) rather instructed the Constituency Chairman to suspend us which we believe is unconstitutional”.
“We wish to state that we sent the petition to the Regional Executive Committee for which it was addressed to the Regional Secretary as the administrative head of the party, but was not addressed to the National Parliamentary Vetting Committee (NPVC) as claimed in the suspension letter. This makes the basis of the suspension null and void and no effect. We complained against the Constituency Chairman, that same person should not be the one to be authorized to suspend us because he cannot be a judge in his case”.
According to the aggrieved Electoral Area Coordinators, their suspension is wrong in law and has no legal effect. A party which prides itself as the Apostles of the rule of law cannot be expected to act in such a manner. We believe that this suspension is a plan which was orchestrated by the Constituency Chairman Alhaji Awudu issaka and the Member of Parliament Hon. William Agyapong Quaitoo just to disenfranchise we the 10 electoral Area coordinators ahead of the Constituency Parliamentary primaries”
They claim that polling station executives in the constituency are “aggrieved about this unconstitutional act of the Constituency Chairman and the Regional Chairman and has threatened on several occasions to demonstrate against the party but we the 10 coordinators are in constant talks to them to exercise restrains but we do not know for how long they can hold on to their threats. We are therefore humbly appealing to the National Chairman Mr. Freddie Blay, the General Secretary Mr. John Boadu, the Regional Chairman Hon. Kinston Kissi, Council of elders, the senior minister Hon. Yaw Osafo Marfo and all other appropriate party hierarchy that matters to kindly step in to reverse the decision of the Regional Secretariat which we believe is against our fundamental human right.”
Source: Mybrytfmonline/Obed Ansah
