EXECUTIVES of the Tema West Constituency branch of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) who boycotted the just-ended constituency election have rejected the outcome of the polls which saw 66-year-old John Kwame Awuah being elected as chairman.
A press release jointly signed by the Second-Vice Chair and Constituency Secretary, Dr Martin K. Antwi, and Henry Osei-Owusu, declaring the process null and void, is calling members within the constituency to disregard the said elections.
At a ceremony in Tema last Sunday, the retired employee of the Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO), Mr Awuah, was elected as chairman, thrashing his closest rival, Mr Paul Sampana Azure, the incumbent, by 306 votes to 58.
The elections which were boycotted by seven of the 10 old executives who pointed accusing fingers at the chairman, Mr Paul Sampana-Azure, and the MP for the area, Ms Irene Naa Torshie Addo, whom they accused of subverting the process of electing polling station executives by intimidating members into accepting their selected persons.
The elections, supervised by the Tema Metropolitan Director of the Electoral Commission, Mr Michael Boadu, also saw Francis Boadu polling a total of 277 for the first vice-chairmanship position, while Esther Dovlo-Fiano polled 273 to emerge as the second vice-chairperson.
Edward Mantey Mensah polled a total of 252, beating three other contestants to become the new secretary.
Emmanuel Kankam Boadu, Alice Addo, Agnes Adu-Mensah, Emmanuel Arhin and Richard Nii Amugi were elected as organiser, treasurer, women’s organiser, youth organiser and assistant secretary in that order already mentioned.
The Tema Zonal Co-ordinator for the elections, Mr Boye Laryea, who swore in the newly elected officers into office, charged them to abide by the party’s constitution.
However, as many as six out of the 10 executives of the constituency have in a strongly worded statement, barely 24 hours after the exercise, declared in no uncertain terms that “the so-called election conducted by Irene Naa Torshie Addo, the MP, and the Constituency Chairman, Mr Azure Sampana, is null and void and of no consequence”.
The statement, which was jointly signed by the 2nd Vice-Chairman and the Constituency Secretary, Dr Martin K. Antwi and Henry Osei-Owusu respectively, said the two did not follow laid-down modalities outlined by the national executives for the compilation of the delegates album for such a process, which was the subject of a law suit pending at the High Court in Tema.
That aside, the statement said, “A letter dated October 16, 2009, and signed by the party’s National Chairman, Mr Peter Mac Manu, ordered the suspension of all activities in relation to elections of polling station executives, electoral area co-ordinators and constituency officers until all petitions were resolved”, adding that “it was, therefore, not only surprising, but utterly shocking that a group of people could undermine the power and authority of the very party they profess to love”.
The statement appealed to the rank and file of the party to remain calm and wait for further directives from the national body.
It will be recalled that after the polling station elections in October, this year, a registered member of the party, Kobina Ampiah-Biney, filed a writ at the Tema High Court seeking, among others, an order to restrain the defendants from using polling station registers compiled by the MP and the Tema West Constituency chairman in the conduct of any elections in the Tema West Constituency.
Following the service of the writ on the defendants, the national chairman of the NPP in a letter dated October 16, 2009, suspended all activities related to the election of party officers in the constituency.
In her reaction to all the developments, the MP for the area described the action as coming from “a group of discontented people who are out to create confusion in the constituency”.
Speaking on a telephone interview, she said “the fact that somebody sits somewhere and writes something called a press release does not mean you should publish it”.
After the polls, a disgruntled Mr Azure later in an interview expressed disappointment at the outcome of the polls that saw him lose miserably.
Although he sensed some form of conspiracy which he intended to investigate, he said he would accept the outcome and work with the newly elected executives as they made strides to return the party to power in 2012.
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