Afoko, Agyepong Must Go – Says NPP MPs  

The Minority New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Parliament has joined calls for National Chairman Paul Afoko and General Secretary Kwabena Agyepong to step aside.

Pressure at various levels of the party has been mounting for the two NPP national officers to resign or step aside after the gruesome murder of Upper East Regional Chairman Adams Mahama.

Mr Agyepong has already called the bluff of those calling for his exit including the NPP Council of Elders, Regional and Constituency executives, promising to fight till the end.

But the NPP MPs have asked that 'the two national officers be requested, in the interest of peace, unity, trust and stability in the party, to step aside to allow for an impartial investigation into these matters, especially the gruesome murder of Mr Adams Mahama, the Upper East Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party.'

That was after they met on Tuesday, May 26, 2015 to deliberate on developments in the party.

Their position was contained in a letter addressed to National Chairman Paul Afoko, signed by Minority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu and copied to the presidential candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo, members of the Steering Committee and members of the National Executive Committee (NEC).

Reason
According to the MPs, 'there appears to be a great degree of mistrust within the leadership ensuing from declared positions taken by the two topmost elected officers of the party.'

For some time now, especially since the second half of 2014 till date, the Minority stated, 'the party at the constituency, regional and national levels has experienced considerable tumultuous developments bordering on anarchy.'

The Minority MPs noted that 'both the Steering and National Executive Committees have not been holding regular meetings because the persons with the requisite statutory mandate to summon and conduct such meetings have not been discharging their responsibilities sufficiently', for which reason 'there appears to be a leadership vacuum and communication gap at centre of the party.'

Concern
They took issue with the handling of the upcoming primaries of the party thus: 'The handling of the parliamentary primaries by the national officers has been most abysmal as it has led to suspicions by the aspirants, notably some Members of Parliament, since the General Secretary has declared that he has personal interest in some constituencies where the party has incumbent Members of Parliament and therefore has demonstrated that he is neither neutral nor impartial in the conduct of the parliamentary primaries which objectivity, neutrality and impartiality a General Secretary is supposed to exhibit.'

On the gruesome murder of the late Adams Mahama, the Minority MPs said 'the dastardly and heinous criminality perpetrated against the Chairman of the party for the Upper East Region, Mr Adams Mahama, which has resulted in the tragic death of the said person and the arrest of Mr Gregory Afoko, the brother of the National Chairman, Mr Paul Afoko, has further poisoned the atmosphere against the two key officers of the party, Mr Paul A. Afoko (National Chairman) and Kwabena Agyei Agyepong (the General Secretary) to the extent that it has become difficult for the two to discharge their statutory responsibilities effectively at the national head office of the party.' Since the dastardly act, neither of the two officers has set foot at the NPP headquarters.

Worry
The Minority group also expressed deep concern about continuous attacks on certain influential persons in the NPP.

Of major worry were the incessant attacks on former President John Agyekum Kufuor and Presidential Candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo, criticising what it described as the philippic postures of always attacking the party leaders.

That, they said, was because 'President Kufuor is a principal personality in the resolution of conflicts in the party and any attack on him weakens both his hand and resolve in that enterprise.'

In the case of Nana Akufo-Addo, the MPs noted that he 'must be advertised to attract the neutrals and the non-committed and the attack on him after his decisive victory only tends to scare away potential sympathisers.'

Appeal
It is in view of these that the Minority MPs asked the two leaders of the party, Paul Afoko and Kwabena Agyepong, to step aside to allow for proper investigations into the issues raised.

They consequently appealed to all members of the NPP, supporters and sympathisers to remain calm in the face of the current storm, while urging genuine party lovers to 'refrain from doing anything that will further accentuate the tension in the party.'

Ashanti Takes Position
Meanwhile, the call for Paul Afoko and Kwabena Agyepong to step down, which has hit several regions in the country, is gathering momentum in the Ashanti Region, I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr. reports from Kumasi.

As at press time yesterday, 27 out of the 47 constituencies in the Ashanti Region had endorsed the stepping aside of the two officers.

The remaining 20 constituencies were expected to submit their forms latest by the close of Thursday, DAILY GUIDE was reliably informed.

Bernard Antwi Boasiako, Ashanti Regional NPP Chairman, on Monday tasked the various constituencies to sign forms to determine the fate of Afoko and Agyepong.

His call followed the murder of Adams Mahama.
In a chat with Sam Pyne, the NPP Scribe for the region, he confirmed that virtually all the 27 constituencies unanimously called for the two officers to step down.

Mr Pyne did not mention the constituencies that had submitted their forms, noting that each constituency had 16 executives to either endorse or reject the form.

He said the remaining 20 constituencies would submit their forms by the close of Thursday.

The NPP scribe said in all about 730 party delegates were supposed to fill the forms in the Ashanti Region.

According to him, if 40 percent of the total number endorsed the form, then the region could call for the head of the two party officials.

By Charles Takyi-Boadu