Sam George
The presidential primary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Ningo-Prampram Constituency of the Greater Accra Region was marred by confusion on Saturday.
The confusion appeared to have been stirred by the NDC Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency, Sam Nettey George, who insisted that 89 branches instead of 93 should be allowed to vote.
He said there was dispute over leadership in all four branches and therefore NDC members there were not eligible to vote.
In the ensuing heat, at least one person sustained injuries and was rushed to the hospital after a fight broke out as a result of the stalemate ‘orchestrated’ by Sam George.
Mr. George reportedly tried to prevent nine delegates from Mangoetsonya B – one of the disputed three branches – from voting.
Two NDC guys, who were monitoring the election in the area, clashed over the issue, resulting in injuries.
Sam George’s action attracted the ire of the Greater Accra Regional Organiser, Anthony Nukpenu.
He described Mr. George as an ‘irresponsible’ MP, who did not know the implications of his action for the party ahead of the 2020 general elections.
The regional organizer said Sam George should not have interfered in the work of the party’s executives in the constituency, saying there is nowhere in the party’s constitution which states that MPs should determine the work of the executives.
He stressed that the person in the National Executive Committee, who listened to Sam George to delete names of the three branches, is incompetent, adding that “the person might have mental instability.
“You have such irresponsible MP behaving like this and people are following him, but me, I pity him strongly because if you disenfranchise those people today, the consequence will manifest in the 2020 elections.
Earlier, the Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the NDC, Ade Coker, had attributed the problem to ‘typographic’ error and asked the delegates to remain calm, as they took time to address the problem.
ET Meeting
During the election, the bad blood between former Ningo-Prampram Constituency MP E.T. Mensah and his successor, Sam George, became visible when veteran NDC guru, aka ET, publicly snubbed Sam George when the latter tried to greet him.
Both NDC leaders were in the constituency to cast their vote, but E.T. walked away, as Sam George made frantic attempts to exchange pleasantries with him.
Sam George unseated E.T. Mensah in the NDC parliamentary primary ahead of the 2016 general elections in a bitter contest, which was marred by violence and even brought soldiers and police on a head-on collision.
From Vincent Kubi, Ningo Prampram