'Respect verdict of Abuakwa North'
As an uneasy calm prevails in Abuakwa North constituency branch of the New Patriotic Party, suggestions and concerns are being raised from some well-meaning party people as to how to help resolve the on-going impasse.
Kwaku Odame Asiate, an NPP founding member is the latest to wade into the controversy and appealed to the national leadership to take bold decision to respect the wish and will of the people of the Abuakwa North constituency.
According to him, the party's interest should always outweigh that of an individual ambition and urged the NPP leadership to uphold the election of Prof Samuel Amoako, who won the Abuakwa North NPP Parliamentary primaries, as the popular candidate to represent the party in the 2008 general elections.
Speaking to The Statesman , Mr Odame stated that he had to express the concern and caution the NPP because any attempt to reverse the election of Prof Amoako would spell doom for the party in the constituency adding, "I can foresee doom in the event of making any wrong move."
He continued, "If the incumbent MP had performed well, someone he contested against in 2004 would not have come from abroad to defeat him this time; they[constituents] simply don't want the man, it's a total rejection of the MP", he stressed.
J.B. Danquah is the incumbent MP of the Abuakwa North constituency but lost in the NPP primaries to US-based Prof Amoako.
On the substantive issue, Odame said Prof Amoako was aware of the provision in the 1992 Constitution on the dual citizenship as it relates to the qualification of who becomes an MP, and argued that the aspirant had not yet been registered by the Electoral Commission to stand for this year's election.
He pointed out that the NPP Constitution's clause on the dual citizenship might have been an oversight but said it was an internal party matter which could be resolved by the party leadership through discretionary powers saying, "the party's interest is paramount rather than individual grievances".
This paper gathered that about ten NPP members living abroad with dual citizenship contested in the just-ended party primaries in their various constituencies.
The convention has been that those living in abroad usually come to participate in the primaries and renounce their foreign citizenship after winning as aspirants.
But in the Abuakwa North case, the Professor is being challenged by the incumbent MP on the grounds that he had dual citizenship as at the time he filed to contest the party's primaries which he said is against the NPP constitution.
Odame asked, "Why didn't J.B Danquah raise the dual citizenship issue during the 2004 primaries?"
The NPP guru noted that the people in the constituency are not violent in nature and advised the party leadership not to provoke them but,"rather should respect the voice of the people who wanted change."