Kate Gyamfuah
The National Women Organiser of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kate Gyamfua, has expressed worry about the decision of some party members, particularly those who lost in the party’s parliamentary primaries, to contest the 2020 general election as independent candidates.
Ms. Gyamfua contends that such decision will badly hurt the party. Making reference to the 2008 elections when independent candidates sprang from the party, she said “the party cannot thread such slippery road again this year.”
She noted that every time a person from a political party has contested as an independent, it has affected the percentage vote of the presidential candidate. She, therefore, urged all aggrieved party persons to let sleeping dogs lie and move on as a team into the general election.
Protecting Legacy
“We cannot compromise on the 2020 general election. The NDC’s hollow manifesto tells us that we have to maintain government to keep working for Ghana. I am urging everybody to come on board and let us foster a united front into the general election,” she sounded the caution yesterday on Accra-based ‘Oman FM’.
She said the Akufo-Addo administration had done well and the good works should not be allowed to be eroded by the anger of some aggrieved party people.
She stated that in a number of constituencies, the vote differences between the NPP and the opposition NDC candidates are not big enough to be shared among members of the same party.
She has also pleaded with party supporters who feel aggrieved and are threatening to vote ‘skirt and blouse’ to reconsider their decision in the interest of the party.
“The NPP is able to work wonders in the first term of Akufo-Addo because we have majority in Parliament. Even with that, there are certain things that the NDC minority frustrated the system and prevented from happening. An overwhelming majority in Parliament is what is needed for a successful Akufo-Addo government,” she stressed.
Akwatia
She pleaded with the Member of Parliament for the Akwatia Constituency, Mercy Adu Gyamfi popularly known as Ama Sey, to shelve the thought of contesting the seat as an independent candidate after being defeated in the NPP primaries.
She stated that the difference between the NPP and NDC in the area over the years had been too close and an independent candidate from the NPP would lead to the party losing the seat.
“All the others who contested the primaries are on board; I am pleading with Ama Sey to also come on board for an overwhelming victory,” she added.