Kwabena Agyepong Waiver Letters Rejected

Greater Accra NPP leaders have rejected a letter allegedly authored by General Secretary Kwabena Agyepong directing that three parliamentary aspirants pay an amount of GH¢15,000 instead of the required GH¢30,000.

Confirming the decision, the Greater Accra Deputy Secretary, Adam Sabo, explained that the regional headquarters of the party was going 'strictly by the rules of the game' as directed by the National Executive Committee.

The drama ensued as parliamentary aspirants filed their nomination forms for an impending vetting and party primaries.

However, one aspirant returned with the full filing fees after the letters were rejected.

The NPP General Secretary is yet to react to the development.

Meanwhile in the Ashanti Region, the NPP MP for Bantama, Henry Kokofu, is fighting a petition which claims he is bankrupt and therefore unfit to stand for re-election in the impending NPP primaries.

Two NPP members, Matthew Osei Opoku and Kofi Osei Adu, have filed a petition, backed with documents, claiming that the MP is saddled with huge debts.

They cite the Representation of the People Law 1992, which states that

'A person shall not be taken to be unqualified to be a Member of Parliament… if ten years or more have passed the end of the sentence or the date of the publication of the report of the commission or committee of inquiry; or he has been pardoned. When a Member of Parliament is adjudged or declared bankrupt or of unsound mind or sentenced to death or imprisonment…'

Exaggeration
Meanwhile the NPP Communications Director, Nana Akomea, believes suggestions that the opposition party is divided against itself are exaggerated.

Nana Akomea has also rejected the view that the party is not ready to take over the reins of power, with general elections nearly 18 months away.

Over the past few days, there has been an unfolding drama within the party following National Chairman Paul Afoko's and General Secretary Kwabena Agyepong's denial that they were aware of a National Steering Committee meeting held in their absence.

The meeting was attended by the 2016 Presidential Candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and was chaired by the First Vice Chairman, Freddie Blay.

The two key national officers (Afoko and Agyepong) allegedly failed to call a Steering Committee meeting for the past two months, despite the fact that they were prompted to do so.

With party disagreements often playing out in the media, the perception of division has once again become the subject of political commentary since the incident.

Although he described the recent developments as 'unfortunate', Nana Akomea was quick to emphasise that the perceived division in the party was 'overplayed'.

He whittled down the current drama to disagreements over roles and responsibilities between a few individuals.

The problem does not permeate the entire party, he stressed.

In his opinion, a party that endorsed its 2016 flagbearer by 94% at its Delegates' Congress could not be said to be divided.

'You don't call that a party divided in the middle,' he said on Joy FM's Super Morning Show Wednesday.

Internal political party disagreements are not unique to any party, he pointed out, recalling how the governing NDC once sacked its General Secretary over an internal disagreement.