Cracking Up the NPP

Paapa Owusu-Ankomah, outgoing Minister of Education, also an NPP presidential aspirant has warned his colleagues that the current spate of dirty campaign being employed by some of them would affect not only their targeted victims but the ruling party as a whole.

In an interview with the ADM yesterday, the aspirant who perhaps because of the poisoned atmosphere in the party, had initially wanted to remain anonymous for "my own reasons" said "some of the things going round are shocking, infact it makes you wonder if this is the same party that respects intra-party democracy".

The presidential aspirant was reacting to scurrilous text messages and other negative attacks in the media targeted at some presidential aspirants.

In the days running up to the NDC congress to elect a presidential candidate last year, text messages more or less marred irreparably, the relationship between Professor Atta-Mills and Dr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah. Text messages may yet mar many relations irreparably within the ruling NPP ahead of the party's crucial National Delegates Congress in December to elect a presidential candidate.

The presidential aspirant, who is also the MP for Sekondi said, though some of them are campaigning vigorously to win the delegates hearts, "for some of my competitors, it is do and die they want to do all things to discredit people. But that is not the beauty of the game".

He asked: "When you say a negative thing about me what does it bring?"

He answered himself: "Hatred". The consequence of hatred, he said, "especially when we all have large followers the party in the end is the loser because we get divided".

When asked if he is running a "holy" campaign, the presidential aspirant said, "What I am saying is that insults and bad tactics will not help the NPP; that is it!"

Question: "From your tone it seems your campaign has been affected by these happenings".

Answer: "For me no, but for NPP yes".