LAWYER MOVES TO SETTLE ASHANTI NPP WRANGLINGS (PAGE 16, JAN 14, 2010)

A KUMASI-based private legal practitioner, Mr Kwame Boafo, has initiated action to resolve the stalled New Patriotic Party (NPP) Ashanti Regional Delegates’ Congress.
“I have started the process and hope to achieve something positive in the end”, he told the Daily Graphic in Kumasi on (Tuesday).
The Kumasi High Court had placed an interlocutory injunction on the executives of the party from holding the conference, following an action brought before it by the Asante Akim North Constituency Chairman of the party, Nana Adu Asabere.
When the case was called before the court presided over by Mr Alex Boon last Monday, Mr Boafo, who happened to be in court, volunteered to have the matter settled out of court.
Consequently, the court granted leave for the lawyer to undertake the settlement process and adjourned the case to January 27, 2010.
Mr Boafo said in the interview with this paper that he had already settled similar cases involving the NPP in the Ahafo-Ano South Constituency and hoped to use his mediating skills to ensure peace in the party.
He said there was the need for peace in the activities of political parties if Ghana’s democracy was to develop.
“That is why I have decided to mediate in the issue,” he said, and called on the parties to cooperate with him to ensure peace in the Ashanti Region NPP.
Ashanti Region, which is the powerhouse of the party, has been embroiled in a legal battle over the holding of the regional congress, which was originally slated for December 31, 2009.
When it could not come off, the party again fixed January 20, 2010 for the congress with the belief that the injunction would be lifted at the last court hearing.
Scores of party supporters who were expecting that the injunction would be lifted to pave way for the congress left the court premises disappointed.
Nana Asebere, who initiated the court action contended that it was wrong for the congress to be held when about 13 constituencies had not held their congresses.
According to him, organising the regional congress would be unfair to the delegates in the affected constituencies since they would be denied the opportunity of participating in the process.