I'll deal drastically with unruly Samia – Delle

Samia Nkrumah has provoked the ire of her party's chairman, Prof Edmund Delle, with her claim that the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) sponsored Ivor Greenstreet's victory in the CPP's presidential primary held in January.

"…The influence of the NDC was there for all to see. Absolutely, they were in full charge. The monies came from them, it’s no secret. Everybody knows…the monies that came to our delegates did not come from the CPP's coffers or from an individual…," Ms Nkrumah told Ekow Mensah-Shalders on Class91.3fm’s Executive Breakfast Show on Thursday March 10.

The former CPP chair's ambition to lead the party her father founded, as flagbearer for the 2016 polls, was crushed as Mr Greenstreet got the nod from delegates after polling 1,288 votes – 64.2%, ahead of her total of 579, representing about 28.9%.

Shortly after the results, Ms Nkrumah granted an interview to the media and accused delegates of being influenced by money.

Her actions were condemned by Prof Delle, who expressed disappointment over the comments, and entreated her to offer an apology to Mr Greenstreet and the party as her behaviour risked affecting the fortunes of the party negatively.

When she appeared on the Executive Breakfast Show on Thursday March 10, Ms Nkrumah stuck her heels and claimed the NDC bought Mr Greenstreet's victory with money.

That allegation has riled Prof Delle, who has threatened to "deal" with her if she fails to apologise. "We conducted our elections and if she had any problem, she should have returned to the party for us to examine. I'm so ashamed to talk about this because I didn’t expect this from her. And she is actually digging her own grave. So long as I remain the chairman and leader of this party, I shall deal with her drastically", he threatened.

"She must respect the party. She must know that nobody is above the constitution of the party and she must respect the party. I made it abundantly clear with my leadership that I will have no fear or favour towards anybody flouting the rules of the party and who will bring the party into disrepute. We have gone to have an election; Greenstreet had 64% of the votes, there was great acclamation for Greenstreet and I made it abundantly clear to her that she must know how to behave. I will take the matter very seriously with the Central Committee and we'll deal with her. And I've warned her; let her come again. The party is no respecter of individuals. There are conditions in the party, constitutional rules, if you had any complaint, she should have come to the party, made a complaint and we'll be taking the matter up. If she won't complain to the party and she does that I'll deal with her drastically: take the party's constitution, bring her before the disciplinary committee, and if she cannot give us evidence, she'll face the full rigours of the laws of the party.

"I'm not going to tolerate indiscipline in the CPP…the name of my flagbearer cannot be put into disrepute, no matter who the person is. It's a warning I’m giving to her, let her dare again and I will tell her that the CPP is not a party which plays with people who are undisciplined. We don't tolerate indiscipline in our party, and I give her the last warning, let her come again, she must render an apology to the party and if she does not render it, I'm giving her 48 hours, she will be hauled before the disciplinary committee of the party and dealt with according to the rules and regulations of our party. She is not special. She's like any member of the party…why should she go on trying to put the name of the party into disrepute, when she knows that there are ways and means of handling problems in the party. I dare her to come gain," an angry Prof Delle told Emefa Apawu on Class91.3fm's 505 news programme.