John Boadu
THE ASHANTI Regional New Patriotic Party (NPP) will from today start the vetting of 119 party members that have submitted forms to contest the 44 seats in the region ahead of the 2020 general election.
The total number of the aspirants comprises 14 females and 105 males, and they are gunning to lead the NPP as parliamentary candidates in 44 constituencies that are currently in the hands of the ruling political party out of the 47.
The party has already successfully selected its parliamentary candidates for the three other (orphan) constituencies in the region, which are currently in the hands of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Sam Pyne, the Ashanti Regional Secretary of the NPP, who made the disclosure to DAILY GUIDE during an interview on Sunday, stated that the vetting process would take place at the Hasta Lodge, TUC, in Kumasi.
According to him, the 44 constituencies have been grouped into two in order to ensure that the important exercise, to be completed on Thursday, would be carried out effectively without any delays.
Sam Pyne said the vetting process would be supervised by NPP General Secretary, John Boadu, with support from Alhaji Futah, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, aka ‘Wontumi’; Patrick Acheampong and other party kingpins.
He disclosed that the party had received petitions in about seven constituencies already but he explained that it is only the National Executive Committee (NEC) that could take a decision on who qualifies to take part in the polls.
According to him, the John Boadu-led vetting committee would forward their report, alongside the petitions received, to the NPP NEC for it to take its decision regarding those that qualify to take part in the parliamentary polls.
Sam Pyne also announced that the party has sternly cautioned the 119 aspirants against storming the vetting venue with their supporters, saying “the aspirants can only come to the venue with their assistants to ensure peace”.
The Ashanti Regional NPP Secretary indicated that any aspirant that would flout the above-mentioned rule by busing his/her supporters to the vetting venue to cause troubles would be dealt with accordingly by the party.
FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi