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14.04.2008 NPP

NPP Vetting In Western Region , Smooth

14.04.2008 LISTEN
By Daily Graphic

All candidates vying for the remaining nine parliamentary seats for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Western Region have been vetted except Effia-Kwesimintsim, which is creating anxiety among the aspiring candidates.

The seat is fiercely contested by four candidates, including the incumbent Member of Parliament, Mr Joe Baidoo Ansah .

The vetting was halted due to the rivalry between the incumbent, Joe Baidoo Ansah, and the publisher of the Chronicle newspaper, Nana Kofi Coomson.
 
Numerous petitions from some members of the constituency have also been received by the national office of the party.

The contents of the petition were not disclosed but are said to be mainly centred on the incumbent and Nana Kofi Coomson.

Two other contestants to the seat were Mr Fred Aduku Williams and John Davis.

All has been said that all has not been well with the Effia-Kwesimintsim seat for sometime now after the election of the incumbent for the second time .
 
To date, the records indicate that apart from the problems at the constituency level, the constituency has seen more than four arbitrations, all centred on the incumbent, who, the constituents say, has lost contact with them.

The Constituency Secretary of the party, Mr Emmanuel Yao Issa, expressed shock at the announcement that the candidates could not be vetted because of the petitions, adding that there were other constituencies with problems but their candidates were vetted.

He said he was not aware of those petitions and that those with the petitions should have channelled them through the constituency executive.

“We welcome the position of the petitioners, but even if they did, it must be through our office and the national executives should have resolved the issue before the vetting date rather than to announce it a day before the vetting,” he said.

“We do not have the time; the opposition parties are battle ready and we are delaying. What is happening currently is very dangerous and we must be very careful, as the interest of the party is bigger than all of us,” the secretary said.

Mr Issa said if the vetting was delayed, the problems of the party would be enormous, since the candidates would not have enough time to campaign.

Asked if he thought there was any problem in the constituency, he said, “I can tell you emphatically that the party in the constituency has a divided front and the earlier we do something to mend it, the better.”

Story by Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu.

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