Zita Fire Spreads To Big Shots

Zita Okaikoi

The fire caused by the defeat of Zita Okaikoi in last Saturday's National Democratic Congress (NDC) constituency primary in the Dome/Kwabenya constituency has spread to the Chairman of the Council of State, Prof Kofi Awonoor, and the Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the party, Ade Coker.

A secretary of the Kwabenya ward in the constituency, Emmanuel Nyamekye, unhappy about developments, disclosed to Peace FM yesterday that the winner, Sophia Akuoku, was not qualified to contest the position as per the constitution of the party.

According to him, the lady boasted that she could rely on the support of her uncle, Prof Awoonor, and her former boyfriend, Ade Coker.

 Nobody, she claimed, could disqualify her because of these connections, Nyamekye disclosed.

But an angry Ade Coker said he had never met the woman in question until the party was vetting the aspirants, asking Zita to graciously accept defeat. 'I swear by mother's grave that I don't know this woman,' he told DAILY GUIDE last night.

According to the Greater Accra NDC chairman, Zita underrated Sophia, hence her downfall; and so she should not blame anybody but herself.

He said all the allegations raised by the former Information Minister were investigated and they turned out to be unmeritorious.

'If Zita had any objections, she had raised them before the voting,' he said. 

Nyamekye said as ward secretary, Sophia approached him to buy membership forms, supporting the request with an amount of GH¢1000.

'She demanded that I backdate her application to 2004 so she could meet the requirement of the party as per the constitution. I did my background check at the Electoral Commission (EC) and discovered that she has never voted in the constituency,' he said.

Continuing, he said, 'I wrote to the regional and national executives of the party regarding her status in the party and received no response.'

She however told him that as far as Prof Kofi Awoonor remained in the party, nobody could disqualify her. 'We have petitioned but if no response is forthcoming, we shall advise ourselves. She also said that Ade Coker is her former boyfriend,' he said.

Sophia, he said, was not asked any question when she turned up for the vetting. 'We shall not sell the NDC to the NPP. We cannot afford to return to opposition. Ade Coker should have invited us to listen to us. We shall collect the seat from the NPP even with our blood,' he cried in frustration.

Zita Okaikoi appears not ready to concede defeat in the keenly contested race, accusing the winner of using cash of GH¢300 to buy each delegate with the promise of giving out additional GH¢300 when elected, even though Zita was said to have also paid similar amounts.

Nunoo-Mensah Fingered
In a related development, the campaign team of the losing NDC parliamentary aspirant for Agona East, Kwesi Ahwoi, has blamed his defeat on the national Security Advisor, Brigadier General Joseph Nunoo-Mensah (rtd).

According to the campaign manager of the team, Paapa Zubaru, General Nunoo-Mensah's open support for the winning candidate, Queenstar Pokua Sawyerr, was tantamount to sowing divisions within the NDC.

He alleged that the national security chief also sent security persons on voting day to monitor the pattern of voting by delegates in an apparent attempt to intimidate them. 'If somebody like Nunoo-Mensah who is a National Security Advisor would descend low and go down to support one candidate without showing neutrality, what are you bringing into the party; division or what?

'On the election day, he sent the security people holding some digital material standing at the back of the voters' box and they were pointing it. We saw all,' Zubaru alleged.

Meanwhile, the parliamentary candidate-elect, Queenstar Pokua Sawyerr, has denied the allegations. According to her, she only received advice from the national security capo.

She said: 'He only showed interest in somebody he had a lot of confidence in, note this is over and I just hope everybody would help us put it behind us.'

By A.R. Gomda