Minority MPs push Afoko, Agyepong to step aside

New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament have advised the beleaguered national chairman and the general secretary of the party to “step aside.”

The Minority in Parliament after a meeting on Tuesday decided that Paul Afoko and Kwabena Agyepong’s absence will help calm tempers in the party.

The two have been accused of being behind the killing of the Upper East regional chairman of the party Adams Mahama. Party supporters and some regional executives are calling for their resignation, but they remain adamant.

“That in the circumstances, the two national officers be requested, in the interest of peace, unity, trust and stability in the party, to step aside to allow for an impartial investigation into these matters especially the gruesome murder of Mr Adam Mahama, the Upper East Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP),” the MPs said in a resolution to the Council of Elders of the party.

Below is the full statement:

OBSERVATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS OF THE NPP MINORITY GROUP IN PARLIAMENT

The Members of the Minority New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Parliament met in Parliament after adjournment on Tuesday, May, 26, 2015 and deliberated on developments in the Party. The meeting made the following observations and arrived at the conclusions herein stated and forward same to the National Chairman of the Party as well as other members of the Steering Committee for the necessary action:

1. That for some time now, especially since the second half of 2014 till date, the party at the constituency, regional and national levels have experienced considerable tumultuous developments bordering on anarchy;

2. That both the Steering and National Executive Committee have not been holding regular meetings because the persons with the requisite statutory mandate to summon and conduct such meetings have not been discharging their responsibilities sufficiently;

3. That there appear to be a leadership vacuum and communication gat at centre of the party;

4. That there appears to be a great degree of mistrust within the leadership ensuing from declared positions taken by the two top most elected officers of the party;

5. That the handling of the Parliamentary Primaries by the national officers have been most abysmal as it has led to suspicions by the aspirants, notably some Members of Parliament, since the General Secretary has declared that he has personal interest in some constituencies where the Party has incumbent Members of Parliament and therefore has demonstrated that he is neither neutral nor impartial in the conduct of the Parliamentary Primaries which objectivity, neutrality and impartiality a General Secretary is supposed to exhibit;

6. That the dastardly and heinous criminality perpetrated against the Chairman of the Party for the Upper East Region, Mr Adam Mahama, which has resulted in the tragic death of the said person and the arrest of Mr Gregory Afoko the brother of the National Chairman, Mr Paul Afoko, has further poisoned the atmosphere against the two key officers of the party, Mr Paul A. Afoko (National Chairman) and Kwabena Agyei Agyepong (the General Secretary) to the extent that it has become difficult for the two to discharge their statutory responsibilities effectively at the national head office of the party;

7. That many otherwise well-placed persons in the party have assumed rather Philippic postures of always attacking persons in the party including, in particular, former President Kufour and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. President Kufuor is a principal personality in the resolution of conflicts in the party and any attack on him weakens both his hand and resolve in that enterprise. Nana Akufo-Addo is the flagbearer who must be properly advertised to attract the neutrals and the non-committed and the attack on him after his decisive victory only tend to scare away potential sympathizers.

8. That in the circumstance, the two national officers be requested, in the interest of peace, unity, trust and stability in the party, to step aside to allow for an impartial investigation into these matters especially the gruesome murder of Mr Adams Mahama, the Upper East Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

9. That, we in the NPP Minority Caucus appeal to all NPP Members, supporters and sympathizers to remain calm in the face of the current storm and that genuine lovers of the party should refrain from doing anything that will further accentuate the tension in the party. The darkest hour in the night is the period just before daybreaks. The NPP must overcome the current difficulties in the overall interest of mother Ghana.

Signed

Osei Kyei-Mensah Bonsu

(Minority Leader)