Cracks Begin To Emerge Within NPP

The Press Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Kwadwo Afari has described as false the Chairman’s accusation that he failed to comply with instructions regarding the theme for a press conference held by the party on Wednesday.

While the letter inviting the media stated that the party wanted react to an earlier press conference organised by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), NPP Chairman, Harruna Esseku insisted that the conference was to outline the party’s vision and role in the new political era, although he ended up responding to NDC accusations of harassment and witch hunting.

In an answer to a question, Mr. Esseku denied knowledge of the contents of the invitation letters sent out to media organisations and blamed the NPP Press Secretary, Mr Kwadwo Afari for refusing to take instructions. But Mr. Afari says he did what he was instructed to do.

According to the ‘Ghanaian Times’ newspaper, the NPP Press Secretary produced the letter that contained Mr. Esseku’s directives to buttress his point. The paper said that its investigations have revealed that the absence of the party’s General Secretary, Dan Botwe and National Organiser, Lord Commey at the press conference was because of the confusion over the scope of the press conference and other matters. The two men are said to have taken the decision to stay away because of the unilateral decision by Mr. Esseku to change the prepared speech.

The date of the press conference was changed from Tuesday to Wednesday to enable the Chairman write his own speech. Party insiders say the actions of Mr. Esseku, referred to as President Kufuor’s favourite and some members of the executive could cause problems for the party.

Meanwhile, Mr. Esseku’s explanation that he arrived late for the press conference because he had to respond to a call from the President has been found not to be entirely true. Party insiders say he rather joined a family to announce the death of a party member to the President.