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NPP Elects New General Secretary Next Month

By Graphic
NPP NPP Elects New General Secretary Next Month
FEB 8, 2005 LISTEN

The New Patriotic Party(NPP)will at the end of this month elect an acting General Secretary to run the affairs of the party until October when a national delegates congress would be held to elect a substantive person for the post.

The party will also organise an emergency national delegates congress next month to review its constitution for a larger electoral college,particularly for the election of a flag bearer and parliamentary candidates for the 2008 elections.

The First National Vice-Chairman of the party,Mr Stephen Ntim,announced this when he addressed the party's executive members in the Eastern Region in Koforidua yesterday.

He was in the region to thank the executives for the role they played to ensure that the party retained power in the 2004 elections.Mr Ntim donated 28-inch television sets to be distributed to all the 28 constituency offices of the party in the region.

The election of the acting general secretary has become necessary because the party's constitution has no provision for who should hold that position in the absence of the substantive General Secretary.Mr Dan Botwe,the General Secretary has now been appointed as the Minister of Information.

He said the acting general secretary would hold the office till October this year when a national delegates congress would be held to elect a substantive person and two deputies,one for administration and the other to handle the operational activities of the party.

Mr Ntim said the review of the party's constitution to incorporate the formation of a larger electoral college would make it impossible for anybody contesting for such positions as flag bearer and parliamentary candidates to manipulate or buy votes,as alleged in such elections, particularly the party's primaries for the 2004 elections.

“The electoral college will be enlarged to such an extent that there will be at least 500 card bearing members to elect a parliamentary candidate and that will make it difficult for candidates to either bribe or manipulate members,”he said.

Mr Ntim who said the campaign for the 2008 elections had begun,asked the executives to submit reports on the 2004 elections in their various constituencies to the national headquarters of the party to be studied to correct any anomalies for a landslide victory in 2008.

The Regional Chairman of the party, Nana Kofi Adi-Ankamah, said the party was able to retain all the 18 seats it occupied in the region before the 2004 election and called on the rank and file of the party not to undermine one another for selfish gains but rather unite to move the party forward.

He also warned the party's Members of Parliament (MPs) not to demand the removal of district chief executives (DCEs) with the excuse that they could not work with them.

“MPs do not appoint DCEs and should not,under any circumstance request for their removal,which is the prerogative of the President,” he stated.

On the allegation by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) that the NPP spent a lot of money to influence voters in the region at the December 7 polls,he described it as quixotic thinking, adding that the party only paid the allowances of its polling agents on the day of the elections.

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