No Coup! NPP Vets Aspirants

Nana Akufo-Addo
A reported coup in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) yesterday turned out to be a hoax as the party held an emergency Steering Committee meeting to deliberate on the vetting process towards the party's parliamentary primaries.

Pro-National Democratic Congress (NDC) media outlets were awash with stories Monday morning that there were moves to remove Paul Afoko as National Chairman of the party.

A statement issued after the said Steering Committee meeting chaired by the NPP 1^st Vice Chairman, Freddie Blay, in the absence of Paul Afoko – who is away in the United Kingdom (UK) for that country's election – proved that the speculation was nothing but a hoax.

The statement, signed by the party's National Organiser, John Boadu, indicated that contrary to claims that it was a ploy to remove Mr Afoko, it was rather meant to deliberate on the party's vetting process leading to its parliamentary primaries.

Present at the said meeting were nine members of the Steering Committee including Freddie Blay; F.F. Antoh, 3^rd Vice Chairman; Nana Akufo-Addo, presidential candidate; Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Minority Leader in Parliament; C.K. Tedam, Chairman of the Council of Elders; Abankwa Yeboah, National Treasurer; John Boadu; Sammy Awuku, National Youth Organiser and Kamal Deen Abdulai, National Nasara Coordinator.

The Committee needs seven members present at a meeting at any given time to form a quorum.

General Secretary Kwabena Agyepong and his colleagues, Second Vice Chairman Sammy Crabbe and National Women Organiser Otiko Afisa Djaba were conspicuously missing in action, even though information indicated that they had all been informed of the urgent meeting.

Twist
Kwabena Agyepong has said he had no knowledge about the meeting.

He is reported to have told Joy News: 'Tell them, I am eating fufu in Kumasi. I don't know anything about this meeting.'

He is therefore said to have questioned the need for his other colleagues to organise a meeting so urgently that they could not wait for the return of the party chairman.

The party chairman, even though left Ghana last week, had not called a meeting for the past two months.

The previous national chairman held Steering Committee meetings every week, but the current executive appears to have a different agenda.

Decisions
Acting on the provisions of Article 9 (i1) of the NPP Constitution, which enables the Steering Committee to act on behalf of the party on urgent matters, they among others decided that 'further to arrangements already in place for the various vetting committees and vetting centres for the party's parliamentary primaries, sent out by the General Secretary, the Committee decided that the following national officers shall be assigned to the various regions to be responsible for the overall conduct of the vetting process and any challenges that may emanate therefrom.'

National Organiser, John Boadu, has been assigned to supervise the vetting process in the Central Region while the National Youth Organiser, Sammy Awuku, would do same in the Eastern Region, with National Nasara Coordinator, Kamal Deen Abdulai, supervising the process in the Upper East Region.

Deputy National Organiser, Nuhu Mahama, is also billed to supervise the vetting process in the Upper West Region while National Women's Organiser, Otiko Djaba, has been assigned to the Northern Region with the National Treasurer; Abankwaah Yeboah, scheduled to take care of the vetting process in the Greater Accra Region.

Meanwhile, vetting of the party's parliamentary aspirants begins today in most of the regions.

1^st National Vice Chairman, Freddie Blay, will be travelling to the Western Region to do same while Daniel Denteh will also go to the Volta Region. The 3^rd Vice Chairman, Fredrick Fredua Antoh and Deputy General Secretary, Nana Obiri Boahen, have been given the mandate to go and supervise the vetting processes in the Ashanti and the Brong-Ahafo regions respectively.

No Coup
Speaking on Citi Fmyesterday, Mr Blay dismissed claims that the afore-mentioned meeting was intended to usurp the powers of the other officers, saying, 'The insinuations that the powers of the General Secretary and the Chairman are being usurped are false.'

According to him, 'People are talking about differences in the NPP out of mischief,' adding that the party 'doesn't have factions and is just one party.'

Blay insisted that his decision to hold the meeting in the absence of the Chairman and the General Secretary was lawful.

'What we did was constitutional. We took steps not outside the constitution… You can organise a meeting in accordance with the constitution. If the steps that we are taking… are legitimate, if they are constitutional, they are good steps.'

The NPP's first Vice Chair disclosed that Afoko and Agyepong were duly informed before the meeting was held but they were absent because Afoko is currently out of the country while Agyepong is in the Ashanti Region after attending the funeral of a relative.

Blay argued that since the two key leaders of the NPP had been informed about the meeting, it did not make any difference holding it in their absence.

'Sometimes it is good for all of them to be here but if one or two have travelled and the meeting can take place why not?'

Reminder
The Committee has therefore reminded all aspirants that per Article 11 (5) of the party's constitution, 'It shall be the obligation of the member seeking nomination as the party's parliamentary candidate to satisfy the Constituency Executive Committee, the Regional Executive Committee and the National Executive Committee that the conditions stipulated in Article 11 (4) have been fulfilled, and any application which does not comply with these conditions shall be rejected.'

It has also asked vetting committees 'to ensure that the qualification, eligibility and competence of aspirants, especially in respect of article 94 (1), (2), (3) of the National Constitution, as well as Articles 3 and 11 of the party's Constitution are duly observed and satisfied.'

 By Charles Takyi-Boadu