NPP Drops Coomson Like Cassava

Credible information gathered by DAILY GUIDE indicates that Nana Kofi Coomson, publisher of The Chronicle newspaper may not be among the next batch of legislators when the role-call for the nation's parliamentarians is made for the swearing-in ceremony on 7th January, 2009.

The political ambition of the publisher hit a brick-wall following his disqualification from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary race in the Effia-Kwesimintsim Constituency of the Western Region.

Coomson's disqualification, which was communicated to him on Tuesday by the party, and later relayed to the constituency, reportedly generated pockets of rumpus in the area, but constituency executives said there was no cause for alarm.

The disqualification meant there would be no parliamentary primary in the constituency for the ruling party since the incumbent MP, Hon. Joe Baidoo-Ansah, is now the sole candidate for the party.

Even though the Vetting Committee had not officially notified the constituency about its final position, sources close to the constituency cited Coomson's use (or misuse?) of party name and letterhead to solicit funds for his parliamentary campaign as the main reason for his disqualification.

The political woes of Coomson started when he was arrested by the Kwesimintsim District Police over the same matter, following a criminal case filed against him by Mohammed Ganiyu, the constituency Youth Organizer of the party.

This was followed almost immediately by a petition filed to the Vetting Committee by Hon. Joe Baidoo-Ansah, who was also Minister for Trade, Industry, PSI and PSD in connection with Coomson's alleged misuse of the party's letterheads in a desperate bid to solicit a whopping $70,000 to pursue his political ambition.

According to a letter dated 28th February 2008, and copied to the executives, the MP alerted the party of the implications of what he called “the misuse of the party's symbol and name for personal gains.

“This is to bring to your attention, the attached fundraising letter authored by Kofi Coomson, publisher of Ghanaian Chronicle, which is a breach of our political party's constitution and rules.

I am by this letter also officially reporting to you the illegal use of our party's symbol and name for personal gains,” he wrote.

The MP and a number of other party gurus frowned at the publisher for addressing letters to certain individuals asking for funds for his campaigns at a time he had not yet officially filed his nominations.

Mr Coomson admitted that he had in the past two years spent a fortune on the project and consequently become financially handicapped - a situation that prompted him to beg for assistance from prominent citizens to print T-shirts and posters, buy megaphones and provide transportation for his campaign team.

The contentious letterhead, which bore the pictures of Kofi and his wife, Diane, stressed in the content that anyone who wanted to offer financial assistance should send cheques in the publisher's name.

In a related development, a group calling itself the Concerned New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Effia Kwesimintsim Constituency has vehemently threatened that Nana Kofi Coomson's disqualification from the parliamentary primary could spell doom for the party if the National Steering Committee (NSC) did not rescind its decision.

To them, it was unfair to disqualify Coomson on the grounds that he had used the NPP logo and letterhead to solicit funds for his parliamentary ambition, whereas most of the party's presidential aspirants had used similar letterheads a few months back.

Brandishing a copy of a similar NPP logo and letterhead allegedly used by Hon. Hackman Owusu-Agyeman in the lead-up to the presidential primary of the party last year, Mr. Chris Larbi-Boateng, spokesperson for the group indicated at a press conference in Takoradi yesterday that it was unreasonable, infantile and petty to disqualify Mr. Coomson.

At what looked like a Kofi Coomson-organised press conference which was attended by about 100 party people including some polling station executives and agents from the Effia-Kwesimintsim constituency, Mr. Larbi-Boateng said the NSC had invited Coomson and executives of the constituency to the party's headquarters on Tuesday, 29th July 2008 to discuss pertinent issues that cropped up during the constituency vetting and ended up disqualifying Coomson.

He said when some constituency executives of the party expressed dissatisfaction with the decision at the said meeting, Mr. Mac Manu, the National Chairman of the party warned them that it was not the prerogative of polling station executives to take decisions for the national executives.

Most members of the group said it would be suicidal for the National Chairman and his team to impose Hon. Baidoo-Ansah on them, and threatened to embark on a massive demonstration, if the party's hierarchy did not rescind the decision to disqualify Coomson from taking part in the party's parliamentary primary.

But when contacted, the Constituency Chairman, Mr. Paul B. Addo said there was no cause for alarm.

“It is their constitutional right to demonstrate, and I don't begrudge them for that. But I tell you we will win the elections,” he said.

Meanwhile, the NPP National Chairman, Peter Mac-Manu has said it is wrong for aggrieved aspirants to urge their supporters to demonstrate against party decisions.

Political funding by individuals had been largely criticized by media gurus in the country, many of whom argued that such developments were dangerous to the country's infant democracy.

Even though it was not clear how much he had allegedly spent on politics in the last two years, Kofi's letter suggested that he had already spent more than twice the sum he was soliciting, since the 'top-up' of $70,000 was just for T-shirts, posters, megaphones and a few other things.

By Bennett Akuaku & Sam Mark Essien