300 million Chop Chop Hits Ashaiman NPP

The New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) dream of annexing the Ashaiman Constituency from the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) in next year’s election is for now a mirage as the new constituency executives are accusing their predecessors of embezzling a ¢300 million 2008 campaign money.

The misappropriation of the huge amount, according to the new executives, left the party broke, inactive and that resulted in its defeat by their bitterest rival, the NDC in 2008.

So heated is the internal wrangling within the Ashaiman NPP that the old constituency executives led by Dr. Agyei Ampofo, who is in the center of the chop chop accusation, are lasing their boots to drag the new executives, led by Alhaji Hamidu Fuseini, alias Papaye, to court, to prove their embezzlement claim or forever shut up.

Party insiders in the constituency have told The Herald that Dr. Agyei Donkor and his colleagues have decided not to participate in any activity of the party in Ashaiman, and this is affecting the fortunes of the party badly, with another defeat stirring it in the face.

When The Herald contacted Alhaji Hamid Papaye on phone, he declined to comment on the issue, saying:

“This is our Party matter, and I want it to remain as such.”

Our reporter, Inusa Musah, made frantic efforts to get Dr. Agyei Donkor to respond to the allegations leveled against him, but all proved futile.

Apart from the ¢300 million embezzlement claim, Dr. Agyei Donkor and his former executives are further accused of making it possible for the NDC’s candidate, Alfred Kwame Agbesi, to retain the seat because they were arrogant, parochial, inactive and, above all, exhibited lack of commitment before and after the 2008 general elections.

The new executives also hold the view that persistent demonstration of apathy towards the party’s course by the old executives after defeat in constituency executive elections, is a manifestation of their desire to ensure electoral defeat in the constituency in 2012 general elections.

The development within the Ashaiman NPP comes as the leadership of the party has begun a nationwide pre-primary tour to calm tempers and heal festering wounds within the party.

The tour, which started in the Ashanti Region last Tuesday, will take the party’s flag bearer, Nana Akufo-Addo, National Chairman, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, and the General Secretary, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, alias Sir John, to all the ten regions, and will last till the end of February.

They will be meeting with regional and constituency executives as well as parliamentary aspirants to brief them on rules and regulations for the party’s parliamentary primaries which will take place on April 30, this year.

The campaign manager for the party, Mr. Boakye Agyarko, has said that the tour will help avert the acrimony that characterized previous parliamentary primaries.

“The dialogue will involve setting out the rules and regulations; the dos and dont’s; what we expect of them, what they expect of us, so that we are all clear on what we are going to do in the process.

“We believe that if we have that dialogue, it will lower the temperature that normally accompanies such contest, bring the temperature down so we have well organized, orchestrated and peaceful primaries for the selection of our MPs," he said.

He explained that the tours will manifest the rules and regulations spelt out on paper in order to ensure fairness and transparency.