Foreign Minister to Stand as Independent

Mr James Victor Gbeho, Minister of Foreign Affairs says he will stand as an independent parliamentary candidate for the Anlo Constituency in the December 2000 parliamentary elections.

According to Mr Gbeho, he took the decision in order not to betray the trust and confidence the chiefs, opinion leaders and his supporters have in him, and to save the constituency. In a release issued and signed by Mr Gbeho in Accra, he re-called that earlier this year, the people of Anlo Constituency informed the headquarters of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) their wish to see Mr Gbeho nominated as the party's candidate for the Anlo Parliamentary seat.

It said this was followed by letters from the Anlo Traditional Council pledging support for Mr Victor Gbeho although these " letters were however never acknowledged or discussed with their authors".

The release noted that a few months ago, the party sent an outreach team headed by Dr Obed Y. Asamoah to inform the chiefs and people about the wish of the party to avoid the holding of primaries nation-wide and also to express a preference for the incumbent. The chiefs and the people however rejected the proposal and claimed an inalienable right to have a say in who should represent them in parliament. "Since then, many meetings have been held by the party leadership in Accra to finally decide on who among the four known candidates deserved the endorsement of the party."

The release said on September 4, the headquarters of the NDC suddenly informed the four aspirants that the primaries would be held in the constituency on Friday, September 8 at an extra- ordinary meeting of the Anlo constituency. "At the venue for nominating a candidate on September 8, an NDC team from headquarters postponed the primaries dramatically because, as they explained one of the candidates had in a letter strongly questioned the legality of the event. The team emphasised the need for their immediate return to Accra in the circumstance, for fresh instruction in the matter with a promise to reassemble the four candidates on Monday, September 11, but this did not happen and enquiries made in Accra drew no positive response.

"It was therefore a matter of great dismay to the people of Anlo constituency and me when on the evening of Tuesday, 12 September, our attention was drawn to a news item carried by some part of the media that Squadron Leader C.K. Sowu had been nominated by the NDC as its choice for the Anlo parliamentary seat for the December 2000 elections".

Mr Gbeho stated in the release that while he will not question the right of the NDC to nominate anyone, the determination to force the incumbent upon the Anlo constituency, the paucity of communication among stakeholders and the obvious lack of transparency in the nomination process have prejudiced the choice in the eyes of those on whose behalf the party has sought to act.

Mr Gbeho said since the news broke out the decision, chiefs, opinion leaders and his supporters in the Anlo constituency, had been in contact with him, and had maintained that he should represent them. He said he deeply regretted that his supporters and he had been forced into this situation by such unpleasant aspects of the process. Mr Gbeho, however, confirmed his respect for the NDC, and its achievements, but reiterated that he could not accept the silencing of the voices in the Anlo constituency in such a manner.

Mr Gbeho said he would continue to urge his supporters to vote for Prof Atta Mills for the post of President, but in the matter of the Anlo constituency in particular to vote as their conscience told them.