Court Settles NPP Case

A KUMASI High Court, presided over by Justice Kwame Ansu-Gyeabour has ordered that 9 out of the 10 selected delegates of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Oforikrom constituency be allowed to vote at the party's national delegates' congress scheduled for today.

The court is restraining M.K. Obiri from voting at the party's congress and asked that he be replaced by the Member of Parliament for Oforikrom, Mrs. Elizabeth Agyemang.

Before giving the ruling, the court mentioned that as the constitution of the NPP allowed each constituency of the party to be represented at a national congress it would be in the best interest of the party to get people to represent the Oforikrom constituency.

Earlier, counsel for the plaintiffs and the defendant, Messrs Mathias Gollo and E. Anaglatey had argued extensively on the case.

A few NPP members in the Oforikrom constituency of the Ashanti Region, led by Kofi Owusu Ansah, took their chairman, Lawrence Akwasi Prempeh to court over the selection of delegates for today's congress.

In their writ of summons, the party members had prayed the court to restrain the constituency chairman and the Ashanti regional secretariat of the party from allowing the selected persons to vote at the congress.

In a related development, the fate of delegates from the Atwima Nwabiagya Constituency which was hanging in the balance following their suspension as executives of the party by the regional executives was also determined at the same court.

The court ruled that all the 10 executive members of the constituency, with the exception of the women's organizer, Diana Koomson who decided not to participate in the congress, be allowed to attend the congress to exercise their franchise.

The court ruled that all the nine NPP executive members of the Atwima Nwabiagya Constituency, together with the Member of Parliament of the area, Hon. Benito Owusu Bio, should be made to cast their votes at the national congress.
From Stella Danso, Kumasi