Monday, March 29, 2010

ASHANTI NPP TO INVESTIGATE NANA ADDO/ALAN POPLARITY VOTE (PAGE 14, MARCH 29, 2010)

By Kwame Asare Boadu, Kumasi

THE Ashanti Regional Secretariat of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has hinted of the possibility of conducting thorough investigations into the popularity vote conducted on Nana Akufo-Addo and Alan Kyerematen in the New Edubiase Constituency last week.
Mr F.F. Anto, the Regional Chairman of the party said the investigations would help establish whether any party guru was behind the act.
Already, the constituency executive have explained that they conducted the exercise without prompting or influence of anyone.
However, the regional chairman said there could be more to the exercise.
The so-called Nana Akufo-Addo/Alan Kyeremanten power struggle took an ugly turn in the Ashanti Region last Wednesday when the New Edubiase Constituency, one of the three orpharned constituencies of the party in the region conducted the mock polls.
However, the regional secretariat of the party moved in and stopped it.
Mr Anto said the exercise was organised by the constituency executive of the party under the chairmanship of Mr Prince Boahen.
He stated that he had to stop it because it was unnecessary.
He pointed out that the exercise would not serve the party’s interest in any way.
According to him, word reached him in the afternoon of Wednesday that the exercise was underway in the constituency.
“I called the constituency chairman and questioned him about exercise and his explanation showed they did it out of ignorance,” Mr Anto said.
Asked whether any party big shot was behind the exercise, Mr Anto said, “At the moment I don’t think so”.
“We do mock examinations and not mock elections especially at this period when no one has officially come out to declare his candidature,” he stressed.
Mr Anto cautioned party members against acts that would derail their forward match towards victory 2012 saying, “I think we have to be careful about the way we handle some of these issues because they can create problems for us”.
The regional chairman pointed out that the result the constituency executives would have obtained would not have helped the party in any way.
He stated that when he spoke with the constituency chairman he was very apologetic.
“The constituency chairman is a gentleman and I believe he did that out of ignorance,” he said.
New Edubiase is one of the three constituencies in the Ashanti Region that the NDC won in the 2008 elections.
The regional chairman said, “We are working hard to win the constituency in 2012 and that is what we have to concentrate on rather than thinking about the popularity of someone or another in the area”.
He expressed the hope that the constituency executive would channel their energies towards defeating the NDC in the constituency.

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