Electoral College To Elect New NPP General Secretary

With the likelihood of Mr Dan Botwe,the General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party(NPP),assuming the position of Minister of Information,a vacuum is expected to be created in the NPP national secretariat.

However,party sources say that it will not create a problem because the party's constitution provides that the National Executive Committee(NEC) shall constitute an electoral college to find a replacement.Earlier, there were whispers within party circles that any of the vice-chairpersons could be re-assigned to the job.

They are Mr Stephen Ntim, the First National Vice-Chairman,Mrs Agnes Okudzeto, the Second National Vice Chairperson and Mr Eddie Annan, the Third National Vice Chairman.The NPP constitution indicates, among others, that in the event of such a vacancy, any of the nine national executive could vie for the position.

It adds that if such a person is elected,he/she could combine the second position with the previous one. According to Mr Harona Esseku, the National Chairman of the party, his mandate included convening the electoral college to elect a successor to Mr Botwe.

But he was quick to add that the election would not come off until Mr Botwe had been cleared by the Appointments Committee of Parliament, adding “that I am confident he will”.Mr Esseku noted that by the middle of February, this year,he hoped the vetting process would have been over and the party could elect a successor to Mr Botwe.

Information reaching the Graphic also indicated that this year would be very eventful as new executives would be elected to occupy positions at the constituency, regional and national levels.Party sources said national executive officers would have to be elected by September,this year.

The race, according to the source, was expected to be very keen, since the National Chairman, Mr Esseku, had indicated his willingness to seek re-election.It is not known whether other incumbent officers would seek re-election but the grapevine has it that Mr Stephen Ntim, National Vice-Chairman and Mr Peter Mac Manu, the Western Regional Chairman of the party,are gunning for the position of national chairman.

The sources also said the party hierarchy needed to be strengthened to coordinate the party's structures for Election 2008.This, the sources said, was necessary because in 2008,the party had to develop its structures very well in order to carry whoever would be elected as the presidential candidate to victory.

According to the sources, during Election 2004 the stature of President Kufuor carried the party to victory, an opportunity that was likely to be missing during Election 2008.