Fantis Maginalized?

Cape Coast NPP express disgust THE COURT case, in which two New Patriotic Party (NPP) members restrained the constituency executives from conducting election to select new executives, had clearly crippled activities of the party in the municipality.
Although the ruling NPP faithful hailed the congress across the length and breath of the country, most of the party members in Cape Coast were not happy that the regional executives could not do anything to ensure their participation in the just ended National Delegates' Congress, which they see as a ritual for healing party wounds.
A number of party members who spoke to The Chronicle felt disappointed because they were already bitter about not participating in the Regional Delegates Conference, which was held on October 30 this year.
So, according to them, to alienate them from the national congress too, meant the party was gradually ignoring its members in the former colonial capital.
Information gathered by this paper indicated that most party members failed to go to Accra to witness the great event, which saw Mac Manu, former Western Regional chairman of the party, emerge the new National Chairman.
Initially, they were optimistic that the problem could be solved to enable them participate in the congress. However, their hopes were dashed when it became clear that Bootey Dankwa Smith, the Region Chairman and his regional executives could not find an antidote to the problem before the congress was due.
Two plaintiffs, Akilu Salisu, former Cape Coast constituency secretary and Stephen Kodwo Arhin, local chairman of the Abura branch of the NPP, filed a writ in court, placing an injunction on the move by the constituency executives to conduct election to select new executives that could have participated in both the regional and national congresses.
The plaintiffs declared among others that the persons handpicked by the executives of the Cape Coast constituency to supervise the polling stations during the constituency elections be declared null and void and that the court should place a perpetual injunction on the defendants from holding any constituency elections until the final determination of the matter.
In their statement of claim, the plaintiffs maintained that the suit was field on behalf of "the concerned members of the party and on our own behalf" to ensure that the executives did not abuse their office.
However, the case which was presided over by High Court Judge, his Lordship Justice Nana Gyamera Tawiah, setting the case aside on November 22 2005, said the action of the plaintiffs was premature, incompetent and an abuse of the judicial process. He therefore awarded ¢5 million cost each against the plaintiffs.
In his ruling, Justice Nana Gyamera told the court that Akilu Salisu lacked that capacity to join Arhin to file the suit because he had resigned from the party in 1999, and therefore ceased to be a member, and read a letter Salisu wrote to that effect.
He stated further that Arhin, who was still a member, could have channeled his grievances through the party's internal procedure as stipulated in the constitution of the party but rather, he resorted to the legal procedure, which should have been the last resort.
"Rather you side-stepped the constitution of your party to initiate legal action," the judge said, describing the entire action as "fraudulent and a flagrant abuse of the judicial process".