A fresh leadership dispute has erupted within the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Volta Region following a disagreement over the appointment of 10 officers to various positions within the party’s regional structure.
The controversy follows an announcement by the Regional Chairman, Makafui Kofi Woanyah, who named the 10 persons in a statement dated August 26. Mr. Woanyah said the appointments were made in consultation with the National Executive Committee (NEC) and in accordance with Article 9(2) of the NPP Constitution, as amended in 2025.
However, the elected Regional Executives have rejected the appointments, arguing that they were neither considered nor approved at a duly constituted meeting of the Regional Executive Committee.
In a statement signed by the Regional Secretary, Shabanton Moses Kwesi Dutsrogbé, the Secretariat said the appointments could not be regarded as decisions of the elected Regional Executives because the constitutionally prescribed process had not been followed.
The Secretariat cited Article 9(10) of the NPP Constitution, which provides that elected Regional Officers shall, within 14 days of their election and in consultation with the NEC, appoint Regional Officers required under the relevant provisions of the party’s constitution.
According to Mr. Dutsrogbé, no official meeting of the newly elected Regional Executives had been convened since their election to deliberate on, consider or approve the appointments announced by the Chairman. He therefore maintained that the appointments did not represent the collective decision of the elected Regional Executives.
The 10 persons named by Mr. Woanyah are Enyonam Morve, Regional Financial Secretary; Alhassan Samadu, Deputy Regional Organiser; Mercy Kpodo, Deputy Regional Women’s Organiser; Innocent Richard Dzamabi, Deputy Regional Youth Organiser; and Karim Raifu, Deputy Nasara Organiser.
The others are Richard Kwadekpo, Electoral Affairs Officer; Ruben Dorcoo, Research Officer; Eric Kwame Akatsi Dumenu, Persons with Disabilities (PWD) Coordinator; Bless Kofi Dunyo Esq., Legal Representative; and Wisdom Jid Gakpo, Regional Special Duties Officer.
The Regional Secretariat has described the appointments as “null and void” and called on party members and the public to disregard them. It said the appointments did not emanate from a duly constituted meeting or collective decision of the elected Regional Executives, and could therefore not be presented as the official position of the regional leadership.
The development has placed the two opposing positions within the Volta NPP leadership in the public domain, with the Regional Chairman maintaining that the appointments were properly made in consultation with the national leadership, while the elected Regional Executives are challenging their validity on constitutional grounds. The dispute could further fuel debate over the interpretation of the party’s constitutional provisions governing the appointment of regional officers and the respective roles of the Chairman, Regional Executive Committee and NEC.
FROM Daniel K. Orlando, Ho