John Boadu
General Secretary of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) is asking a presidential hopeful, Alan Kyerematen to distance himself from a group calling itself Ashanti Patriots Movement.
According to him, the group is alien to the NPP and is on a mischievous and diabolic agenda to destroy the ruling party.
On January 12, 2022, a group purporting to be a pro-NPP group, calling itself, the Ashanti Patriots Movement made some wild claims in respect of the party’s forthcoming internal elections including the next presidential primaries of the party ahead of election 2024.
The group also took issues with the party leadership particularly the General Secretary, John Boadu, whom they asked to resign if he was unable to enforce the code of conduct issued under his hand.
Leadership of the group claims that, supporters of Alan Kyerematen was being victimized with suspensions for merely declaring support for the Trade Minister, whereas those who declared support for the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, in clear breach of the Code, were not visited with similar sanctions.
They were of the view that the situation will make it difficult if not impossible for the NPP to break the 8, as their members may be forced to vote against whoever the Party brings as Presidential Candidate in the 2024 General Elections.
However, the NPP General Secretary, John Boadu through Iddi Muhayu-Deen,
Press Secretary said the group is alien to the NPP and has never been part of the party’s volunteer groups in any previous elections.
Giving details of his response, he the convenor of the group, Emmanuel Osei-Gyamfi, who addressed the presser, is not a member of the NPP.
“Records show that he voluntarily forfeited his membership of the NPP (even if he ever was), when in 2020, he filed to contest as an Independent Parliamentary Candidate in the Atwima Nwabiagya North Constituency of the Ashanti Region.
“How can somebody who is not a member of the NPP, purport to lead a group in the Party to fight for the interest of Alan Kyeremeten? It is not surprising that the group would threaten that they may vote against the party’s Presidential Candidate in 2024 if their concerns were not addressed.
“Certainly, the group can only be said to be on a mischievous and destructive mission, and it will be in the interest of Mr. Alan Kyerematen to dissociate himself from such a diabolic agenda against the NPP,” John Boadu stated.
The General Secretary of NPP emphatically
denies the group’s allegation of discriminatory application of the Code against the supporters of Alan Kyerematen as a presidential hopeful.
He said “In any case, until the Party opens nomination for presidential primaries, there cannot be any aspiring presidential candidate duly recognized by the party.
“It is also to be noted that when party members are suspended on allegations of misconduct, as in the case of what happened in the Northern Region, the Party Constitution provides the aggrieved members a remedy in Article 4.”
He explained that the party’s disciplinary and grievance procedures do not permit the General Secretary to directly interfere in disciplinary matters at the constituency and regional level until the necessary processes are initiated to invoke the jurisdiction of the National Disciplinary Committee and the National Executive Committee.
“Equally, the Code of Conduct launched by the party in July 2021 expressly provides clear procedure for handling alleged breaches of party rules, which, however, do not derogate from the provisions in Article 4 of the Party Constitution.
“Finally, the General Secretary wishes to use this opportunity to reiterate the party’s caution to individuals wishing to lead the Party in the future to take the necessary steps to rein in their supporters.
They should not allow their individual ambitions to affect the party’s forward march,” he added.
John Boadu will not hesitate to crack the whip when it becomes necessary in order to ensure party discipline and sanity, which are the essential prerequisites for victory in 2024, he stated.
By Vincent Kubi