‘Fear delegates,’ Sir John
NPP holds regional delegates elections for executives
It was the late former Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission of Ghana, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, a.k.a. Sir John, who first spoke those words of “fear delegates,” but it doesn’t seem like this was a memo that everyone within his party quite received as working advice.
Expressing shock that he only got three votes after campaigning for two years in his bid to become the Chairman of the New Patriotic Party in the Ashanti Region, Oheneba Adum Bawuah has alleged that some candidates influenced votes.
He claimed that some of the candidates were allowed to drive cars stashed with money into the venue for the election, and distributed them on the day so as to give them an advantage over him, reports myjoyonline.com.
He added that he has since petitioned the National Executive Council of the NPP to form a committee of enquiry to probe the election process while asking the election committee to apologize for flouting the rules that guided the elections.
“I used two years to campaign and got three votes, even my auntie didn’t vote for me because they influenced them to the point that they didn’t have any choice. The money was too big to vote for anybody.
“I had cameras inside so I have evidence [of vote buying] so I don’t want to drag this issue. They should be silent and form a committee and apologize to the system to avoid repetition at the national level. The election committee should come out and apologize for not following the rules,” he said.
The failed chairman, Oheneba Bawuah, has also begun advocacy that would include the votes of all members of the party rather than only those of delegates.
“I am starting an advocacy to advocate for ‘one man one vote’ instead of delegates. If the country wants a future, it should be ‘one man one vote’ and that’s the revolution will be championing for.
“All the parties have the same problem so it is not limited to the NPP alone. “Delegates are not the problem, it is the constitution,” he stressed.
The Ashanti Regional chairmanship slot was retained by Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi who won by 464 votes followed by his close contender, Odeneho Kwaku Appiah who polled some 306 votes.
