Jemaine and friends from NPP USA

Let me at this stage step into this forum, now that our elections are over, and address certain issues before they fester into unbearable wounds. We have been very good sister branches and we have coordinated and communicated well and together with our external sister branches we have made our party stronger and richer. Through no fault of yours you have been lured into our local elections through postings from UK from some of our members and sometimes you have been misled into certain beliefs. Ms Djaba openly campaigned for Mr. Dombo and made some submissions in the public domain which were very embarrassing to many people and perhaps to Mr. Dombo himself. Some of her statements bothered on defamation and aimed at reducing some people in the estimation of right thinking members of society. But hey, that is politics. It can get dirty when the going is getting tough even though it needn't be like that all the time. I have sent a note to all members calling for untiy and reconciliation after the election. That is how family members behave. However the charge of tribalism that Ms. Djaba is alluding to and carrying on into your domain is totally and completely untrue and I cannot sit by and allow that to travel. No one in UK has ever made or will ever make such a statement. It hurts me so much to have to comment on this matter but I feel obliged because if I do not it could be used by our political opponents against our party one day. In Denver we dealt with many issues including tribalism and the Akanisation of our party. We here in UK have been very conscious of this trend and we have always made the effort to combat it. For me that has been my weakness and yet my strength. I believe that members of the ethic minority in our executive must always be ring fenced even if they misbehave. Ms Djaba herself never contested for any of the electable positions yet she has been campaigning. It is good for her but she makes some suggestions which suggests to me she does not understand how NPP UK and Ireland works. Hon. Adamu Daramani, now MP for Bawku Central has been the 1st Vice Chairman of NPPUK and Ireland since 2003. Even to the time he was elected as an MP in December 2008, he was still the 1st Vice. Hon Daramani for very long times in 2004-5 led the branch literally as Chairman because the then chairman Ampratwum Sarpong spent long times in Ghana either on business or party duty trips. Alhaji Issah Danjuma, has been the 2nd Vice since 2005 till literally yesterday. He resigned to contest salaga in the primaries but he was allowed back on to the executive when he lost the primaries. He combined the role as the acting 1st Vice when Adamu became the MP. he has been the pillar of this branch and continues to enjoy the respect and support from members of this branch. Our branch has always worked very well under the leadership of these gentlemen who are from the northern regions. Perhaps these are historical facts that Ms. Djaba is either unaware of or has refused to take account of. Richard Dombo who was introduced to NPP UK some three or four years ago by Alhaji Issah Danjumah was fast tracked onto the executive by my administration because we recognised his potential. His tribal background was never a consideration. Richard himself did not campaign on his tribal background. He hardly even mentioned the fact that he was the son of Chief Dombo, the first true leader of our tradition. He campaigned purely on the strength of what he could bring to the table. he is tribe-blind and speaks fluent Ga and Twi than he does of his native language. For someone to tackily turn Richard's campaign into a tribal facade is truly despicable. The young man had the formidable task of overturning what I had been able to accomplish in the last four years together with my track record in the party since 1992. it is not his fault that he lost the elections and he has a big role to play in the new administration. Ms Djaba's tribal assertion is her own creation, a fiction of her own imagination. Let me also correct a few misconceptions that all the contestants are from the same region. These are some of the executives, though not all and look at the spread of our backgrounds

1. I am Asanti [with Fanti roots are from my father's parents]

2. Afum is from the Eastern Region
3. Kyeremeh is from Brong Ahafo
4. Veronica is from the Northern Region
5. Marlon is from the Volta Region
6. Francis Badu (Youth) is from Western Region
The spread of the executives along these regional backgrounds was not designed but based on their strengths and what they can do for the party. It is only through cooption that we can get the true national tapestry that we all desire. Ms Djaba is sowing a seed of discord and you in USA who she appeals to must see through this and tell her to stop. If she wants to work as part of our tradition she must learn to respect democracy and the will of the majority.

I hope your members will be able to weave the truth from the yarn of half truths that Ms. Djabe has fed you with.

Kind regards
Atta-Krufi
Chairman
UK and Ireland