The founding members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Ashanti Region has called for the annulment of the delegate system within the party, as the latter embarks on an introspection exercise to unravel what caused the humiliating defeat in the just ended elections.
In a statement issued in Kumasi, under the signatories of Mr Kofi Obiri Yeboah and Kofi Nsia Amponsah – Chairman and Secretary of the group respectively – they pointed out a number of issues which they believe caused the heavy defeat.
According to the group, the delegate system of the party was hampering the fortunes of the NPP, since it breeds bribery and corruption.
“The process, where a few members select party leaders for the greater majority, cuts across all party internal elections and has its attendant negative tendencies, including bribery and corruption, leading to monetisation within the party elections.
It has, therefore, asked authorities to embark on a massive member registration and, thereby, empowering all card-bearing members in good standing to vote in NPP primary elections.
Apathy
Walking down memory lane, the Ashanti Regional NPP founding fathers argued that anytime the party suffers from apathy in a general election, it loses the polls.
“The party suffered some form of apathy in 2008 and the worst form of it in 2024. Anytime apathy sets in among party members and sympathisers, we move straight into opposition. Let us find out the real causes of this canker and uproot it completely.
Imposition of Candidates on Delegates
The worried group accused some NPP leaders of deploying weird tactics to foist candidates on delegates.
“Leaders at the top of the party hierarchy through trickery and bullying impose their preferred candidates, especially during parliamentary primaries on the delegates.
“Through a so called MAFIA system, all those standing in the way are booted out of the Delegates album. The elections for the polling stations executives lack transparency and need reforms. Where the contest is tough, such preferred choices are declared unopposed.”
Greed
“Most of the campaign team leaders took the position for their own personal gains. Various sums of monies were distributed to these self-seeking individuals for specific tasks, but out of greed they pocketed the monies and left the tasks undone.
Internal Party Disputes, Arrogance and Abuse of Power
“It was also observed with dismay the rampant internal disputes in the party from the national level to the constituencies, to the detriment of the smooth running of the party structures.
“Arrogance was at its peak among party chairmen and political appointees that created a distance between them and the grassroots members, the elderly and former appointees.
All these contributed to the abysmal performance at the polls. The above and many critical issues that cannot be discussed here must be identified and addressed.”
Proffering solutions to the above challenge, the Ashanti regional NPP founding members implored the leadership of the party to be all inclusive in their selection, appointment or election of review committee members.
“The founding Fathers, who risked their lives in the revolutionary period to register the party have been side-lined all these years and must now be included in all the decision making processes of the party. It is said that an organization, country or party that does not honour its heroes is not worth dying for.”
According to the group,the task is enormous but not insurmountable hence they should take the bull by the horn and work together for the betterment of the NPP.
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