Asokwa NDC in crisis…Vote of no confidence passed on chairman

THE ASOKWA Constituency of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) would not go to the polls in December without having to clear some hurdles.

The Regional Secretariat of the party would have to quickly resolve a vote of no confidence passed on the acting constituency chairman and entire constituency executives of the party, and also to address concerns raised about the irregularities during the party's primary at the Salisburg Hotel, on August 28, 2008, or have the Parliamentary candidate-elect restrained from contesting the December elections.

Concerned members of the constituency have passed a vote of no confidence in Mr. Mutairu Kasim Adjei and consequently petitioned the Regional chairman.

Kasim Adjei is accused of overseeing irregularities at the primary which resulted in the controversial election of Mr. Joshua K. Duku Donkor as the parliamentary candidate, for which the petitioners are threatening legal action.

The chairman has been described as a dictator, for suppressing views of other members at meetings. He is also accused of allowing an NPP sympathizer to cast his vote during the primary, which said vote is believed to have influenced the declaration of Duku Donkor as the eventual winner of the primary. This NPP man happens to be the sole financier and nephew of Duku Donkor.

The petitioners also pointed to the substitution of original names of delegates from branches and wards by the chairman and executives with names of their favourites, thus bloating the executive list from nine to 24, to vote at the primary. They said it took the intervention of the regional chairman to restore some names, which had been deleted from the executive list.

According to the petitioners, the constituency Women's Organizer also substituted the names of Asokwa Extension delegates with names of stewards at her eating-place, to cast their votes in favour of Mr. Duku Donkor.

Mr. Kasim Adjei is said to have openly campaigned for one of the contestants by promising the delegates GH¢3,000 if they helped the said contestant win the primary.

The 29 signatories of the resolution, dated September 2, 2008, drawn from various branches and wards like Kaase, Asokwa, Atonsu, Ahinsan, indicated that the constituency chairman was not morally upright because he is said to have led some executive members to beat up the Propaganda Secretary in public, but the regional executives failed to act on a report lodged against them.

Following, the petitioners called for the resignation of the chairman and his executives en bloc, for presiding over irregularities likely to affect the image of the party, on the premises that Duku Donkor is not a genuine NDC man and that his election had been influenced by NPP elements who saw Mr. Ishmael Butler, a former Assembly member for Kaase electoral area and two time NDC Parliamentary candidate for Asokwa as a threat to Mr. Maxwell Kofi Jumah, the Asokwa NPP MP and parliamentary aspirant, leading to the election of Duku Donkor, not seen as a genuine NDC persaon, which election is likely to affect the fortunes of the party.

Agyemang, the constituency Propaganda Secretary told The Chronicle that on submission of the petition, the Regional Secretariat assured to appoint a three-man committee to address the issues raised therein as a condition to discard a planned demonstration, but one month on, no action has been taken.

He assured that the petitioners would definitely go to court to seek redress as soon as possible, as a result of the failure of the regional executives to resolve the impasse.

Meanwhile, Mr. Doe Tamakloe, the Regional Secretary of the party has indicated that he is not aware of the appointment of any Committee to address any purported allegations against the constituency chairman, saying the allegations are frivolous and that those pressing charges against Duku Donkor are rather not genuine NDC members.

Tamakloe says Duku Donkor is a genuine NDC man and that until his background is otherwise proven, the party regards him (Joshua Duku Donkor) as the accredited parliamentary candidate of the party.

The estranged PC, Mr. Duku Donkor, in a reaction said the petitioners have a problem because whether he is an NDC man or not, he has won the primary and would contest the December elections on the ticket of the NDC.

He said the primary result was overwhelmingly massive, having polled 92 votes against 68 by the other contestant.

Attempts to get in touch with Mr. Kasim Adjei to comment on the allegations were not successful, as his Kasapa cell phone rung several times without answer.