13 NDC executives entitled to their decision to resign – Nketia

General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia says there is nothing the party can do about a decision by some 13 executives in the Eastern Region to resign.

Mr Nketia explained after a press conference in Accra on Wednesday 2 May 2018 that if the disgruntled individuals petition the national leadership concerning the matter “we will deal with them but if they take their decision to leave it is their decision”.

After a probe by Class FM’s Joshua Quodjo Mensah, whether the national leadership will look on for the resignations to officially proceed, Mr Nketia insisted that: “We are in a democracy so it is not for me to allow or disallow anybody to take their democratic decisions”.

He further explained that the affected individuals belong to a political party which has laws and grievance procedures so “if you decide that you will not avail yourself to any of these procedures and you want to take your decision to leave it is your democratic decision and nobody can challenge you about that not even the President of the Republic”.

The 13 constituency executives of the party at Akwatia threatened to resign from their positions citing unfair treatment by former Member of Parliament for the area, Baba Jamal and the party’s National Vice Chairperson, Anita De Soso as reason for their disenchantment.

According to Henry Boakye Yiadom, constituency vice chairman, notwithstanding their sacrifices and efforts for the party over the years, they are being accused falsely and threatened with suspension.

Their decision follows a disagreement between them and Ms. De Soso at a meeting to resolve disagreements surrounding the party's branch elections in the constituency.

He said Mr Jamal and some followers, petitioned the party to suspend them, accusing them of contributing to Mr Jamal’s defeat during the 2016 parliamentary elections.

Mr Yiadom, popularly known as Okoyo says the disgruntled executives are not happy with the conduct of Ms. De Soso.

Meanwhile, Prince Yaro, Election Committee chair for the party in Akwatia, has asked the public to disregard the claims by the affected people.

Mr Yaro told Accra News’ Naa Atswei Oduro on Wednesday, 2 May that: “As a party, we haven’t received any official resignation letter from those executives, and, so, we are not aware of their resignation.

“As far as we are concerned, they have not resigned, and, so, we want the general public to disregard the reports making rounds in the media.”