Okudzeto, Kenwuud in verbal brawl… over NPP in Volta Region

REPORTS FROM the camp of the Main opposition party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Volta Region indicate that all is not well for the party as things are falling apart and the centre is failing to hold, with two key members of the party locking horns with each other in a verbal brawl amidst accusations and counter accusations.

The two, Mr. Raymond Kojo Okudzeto, a business magnet and a leading member of the NPP, who served as the Operational Director of Nana Akufo-Addo 2008 campaign team in the Region, and recently announced his resignation from active politics, last Friday slugged it out with Mr. Kenwuud Nuworsu, the Regional chairman of the NPP in a heated argument, resulting in the two washing their dirty linen in public as they engaged in names-calling.

The two firebrand politicians of the NPP did not mince words as they embarked upon accusations over the party's defeat in the just ended general elections. The trouble came in the wake of the announcement by Mr. Okudzeto to quit active partisan politics after he had addressed the third anniversary celebration of his Volta Foundation Magazine.

In the heat of the argument, Mr. Raymond Okudzeto blamed Mr. Kenwuud, the regional chairman and Mr. Kofi Dzamesi, the former Regional Minister as causing the down fall of the party in the region. According to him, whatever suggestions he put forward was thrown out by the above mentioned personalities.

Speaking on Citi FM, an Accra based private radio station last Friday, Mr. Okudzeto said, “This Kenwuud Nuworsu said nobody is going to take over the party from him, the party became his personal property. These are the people who made us lose the election and they turned round to say I caused it. I only told them that what they were doing was wrong,” he said.

In a swift reaction, Mr. Kenwuud Nuworsu alleged that even though Mr. Okudzetso was not a founding member of the NPP, he managed to find his way out into the leadership of the party by creating a lot of problems for the party in the region. “The problem of the party in the Volta Region is Raymond Okudzeto. He has just jumped from nowhere into the party. He has a lot to answer. He is always looking for attention and recognition. He is always looking for a scapegoat for his failure,” he said.

According to him, Mr. Okudzeto has interfered with all the structures of the party before he returned from his self-imposed exile to the party's disadvantage and has also interfered with the Anlo chieftaincy, resulting in insurmountable problems for the NPP in the region.

But Mr. Okudzeto was of the opinion that there were some members of the party, including Kenwuud who had developed a habit of lying and fabricating of stories to malign him.

Mr. Nurworsu, who did not take kindly to Mr. Okudzeto's assertion, descended heavily on him and labeled him as a 'conman' and challenged him to produce a proof of his founding membership of the NPP. He also urged Mr. Okudzeto to render an account to the party before quitting it or forever keep his mouth shut. “You are a con man. You are a disgrace to the NPP and your family. If you say you are quitting, give us the balance sheet and stop making noise.”

Mr. Kenwuud, who revealed that Mr. Okudzetso was not in the trenches with the party, but came out from his elf imposed exile, dismissed the status of Mr. Okudzeto in the NPP, saying,

“He should give us a break. When we were in opposition and worked hard for the party to come to power where was he. If he claims he is a member he should stay in opposition and work for the party. He is not a founding member of the NPP,” Mr. Nuworsu claimed.

Accordingly, he alleged that Mr. Okudzeto has never meant well for the NPP in the region and that he has his own agenda. He alleged that when Mr. Okudzeto returned from his self-imposed exile and met the NPP at a rally at Adidome, he disgraced the party through his speech, of which he Nuworsu came to apologize to the people on his behalf.

“Mr. Okudzeto is trying to get undue attention for himself and has arrogated himself a chieftaincy contractor in Anlo,” adding that “I would have treated his comments with the scorn that it deserves, but for the records sake, I need to set it right.”

Mr. Okudzeto on the other hand described the regional chairman of the NPP as a pathological liar. He expressed concerned over how people fabricate stories to malign him and that because he was tired of the entire unsubstantiated allegation of which he cannot stomach, he had to quit the party.

“”It is rather sad that there are some people who are just professional lairs. He is a liar. He has done nothing for the party. Kenwuud, I have no time for you. You are not my equal. You want your party, keep it. I have enough of your lies. Your lies are just too much for me to stomach. You are a liar. You don't think before you speak. Who do you think you are,” he inquired.