Ayisi Asare Awuah addressing journalists
A court injunction filed by aggrieved members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Ahafo Ano North Constituency is threatening to derail ongoing internal electoral processes within the party.
The members, operating under the banner of Concerned Patriots, are challenging the conduct of recent polling station and electoral area elections, alleging widespread irregularities and breaches of the party’s electoral regulations.
At a press conference in Tepa, the group’s Secretary, Ayisi Asare Awuah, accused constituency executives and a representative of the Ashanti Regional Executive Committee of manipulating the electoral process and sidelining legitimate party structures.
According to him, the constituency’s leadership structure has effectively been “hijacked,” rendering many party officers unable to perform their constitutional duties.
The group has therefore petitioned the court to halt all subsequent constituency elections until elections are conducted in 23 polling stations where, they claim, no voting took place despite results allegedly being declared.
They are seeking a declaration that the failure to conduct elections in the affected polling stations was unlawful and unjustified.
The Concerned Patriots are also asking the court to compel the party to organise elections in the outstanding polling stations before any further constituency-level elections are held.
Additionally, they want the court to order the removal of the regional representative who supervised the elections and direct that all future electoral processes be conducted in accordance with the party’s constitution and guidelines.
Ayisi Asare Awuah explained that the decision to seek legal intervention followed unsuccessful attempts to resolve the matter through the party’s internal dispute-resolution mechanisms.
“We reported these anomalies to the Election Committee, but our concerns were ignored. We believe the court is now the only avenue left to ensure fairness and transparency,” he said.
The group alleged that several election guidelines were breached, including the release of nomination forms, the vetting of aspirants and the publication of notices of poll.
They further claimed that polling station committees were improperly constituted and that ballot processes were manipulated in some areas.
Among the allegations is the selective use of voter albums during the elections. The group claimed that some unverified individuals, including students from Tepa Senior High School and nursing training institutions in the area, were allowed to vote.
The Concerned Patriots also condemned what they described as the deployment of “macho men” to intimidate party members during the elections.
The group linked the alleged atmosphere of intimidation to recent violent incidents during internal party elections, including clashes at Tepa Akwasiase where two persons were reportedly stabbed.
According to the group, the alleged irregularities have weakened confidence in the party at the grassroots level, with some dissatisfied members reportedly defecting to other political groupings.
They warned that if the issues are not addressed, the NPP could suffer electoral setbacks in future elections in the constituency.
The group is therefore calling on the national leadership of the NPP to institute an independent investigation into the conduct of the elections and the role played by officials who supervised the process.
Until elections are conducted in the outstanding polling stations, the Concerned Patriots insist they will continue to pursue legal action to stop all subsequent electoral activities in the constituency.
FROM David Afum, Tepa