The Managing Editor of The Herald newspaper, Larry Dogbe, has criticised the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) Vetting Committee for allowing Kojo Bamba to contest the party's First National Vice Chairman position.
Kojo Bamba subsequently won the First National Vice Chairman position at the NPP's national executive elections held in Kumasi on Saturday, October 3.
He polled 3,116 votes to defeat 12 other candidates, with former NPP General Secretary Nana Boadu leading the race for the National Chairman position.
Reacting to this, the journalist said Kojo Bamba's past, including his involvement with the Delta Force and incidents that brought him into conflict with the law, should have been considered before he was cleared to contest.
According to Dogbe, although a previous conviction may not automatically disqualify a person from contesting, the circumstances surrounding Mr Bamba's past made him unsuitable to occupy one of the party's top leadership positions.
“I think the vetting committee of your party didn't do a good job because with all the credentials that they have, what they should have done was to just disqualify this guy," he said when speaking on Accra-based Channel One TV's Breakfast Daily programme on Tuesday, October 6.
He questioned the decision to allow Kojo Bamba to contest for a position that would make him one of the public faces of the NPP, particularly given his history with the Delta Force.
Kojo Bamba, a former member of the pro-NPP vigilante group, was among 13 members who were convicted in 2017 after they escaped from lawful custody at a Kumasi Circuit Court.
The 13 were fined GH¢2,400 each after pleading guilty to the offence.
Mr Dogbe argued that the NPP could have considered assigning Mr Bamba a different role within the party instead of allowing him to contest the First National Vice Chairman position.
“You don't put a guy like that to be your face, and he's wearing military uniform. I keep saying that it doesn't speak well," the journalist noted.
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Comments
Larry Dogbe, sometimes, the NPP thinks they need people without enough education to fight their battles, but one thing they forget is that machismo or strength doesn't win elections, it's the people's votes that determine who has to rule the country.