Disqualified Candidate Appeals To President

Mr Yaw Amankwah,who was disqualified to participate in the primary of the Okaikoi North Constituency of the New Patriotic Party (NPP),has appealed to President J.A. Kufuor to intervene to ensure that the right thing is done in the constituency.

According to him, the disenchantment among the party members was very alarming and, therefore, if the party failed to settle the issue of who should be the legitimate candidate for the constituency, the party would lose the seat.He said although the executive which disqualified him (Amankwah) had not furnished him with the reason for that, he was not bothered, explaining that his main concern was that the internal democracy of the party should be manifestly be seen to be in practice.

“What the executive did was a mockery of democracy and as a party that believes and practices democracy in a transparent manner, the same thing should be done in the constituency,” Mr Amankwah said.He threatened to stand as an independent candidate in the area to ensure that Mrs Elizabeth Sackey, whom he accused of being an NDC mole, did not undermine the chances of the party in retaining the seat.

Mr Amankwah called at the offices of the Daily Graphic in the company of Mr Patrick Asante, the acting Vice Chairman of the constituency.According to him, the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP), Mr Darko Mensah, and Mr Alex Amankwa were the qualified candidates to contest the primary but through the machination of some regional and national executives, the lady in an unfair and clandestine manner got the nod.

“Mrs Sackey who only became a member of the party less than two years ago, also paid her filing fee for the primary four solid days after the deadline given by the executives but the executives managed to accept her money which was against the party constitution,” he alleged.

He said the mysterious primary had infuriated the foot soldiers and added that there was the danger that they would not vote for the NPP candidate if the right thing was not done. Mr Amankwah also alleged that some members of the party in collaboration with some 'macho' men had started threatening the lives of those who opposed the candidature of Mrs Sackey.

According to him, Mr Darko-Mensah invited some members of the executive for some discussions at Sanaa Lodge, but midway through the meeting, macho men in the T-shirts bearing Mrs Sackey's portrait disrupted the meeting and threatened to kill him and burn his house.Mr Amankwah alleged that the mob also vandalised a car with registration number GT 8983 belonging Mr Asante and made away with two loud speakers, a musical system and an amount of ¢2 million.

He said the mob also brutalised two youngmen who were asked by Mr Darko Mensah to organise refreshment for those who attended the meeting.He said the case had been reported to the Abeka Lapaz police who had arrested one of the perpetrators.