NPP activist in Tema files suit against party

Tema, Oct. 19, GNA - Mr Kobina Ampia-Biney, member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has instituted an action at the Tema High Court, for an order to restrain the party from using the Tema West Constituency Polling Stations' Register to conduct any elections.

Also joined to the suit are the National and Greater Accra Regional Executives of the party, as well as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tema West and the constituency executives.

The suit was filed on behalf of Mr Biney by Mr Modesto Kpodovia on Thursday, October 15.

Mr Biney, a resident of Community 11, is seeking a declaration that the alleged compilation of the polling stations' register by the MP, Mrs Irene Naa Torshie Addo and the Constituency Chairman, be declared void by the court, because in his view, it was in breach of the rules and regulations of the NPP.

In his statement of claim, Mr Biney avers that in a memorandum dated September 11, entitled "Compilation and Validation of Polling Station Membership Register Executive Time Table," and addressed to all regional and constituency secretariats, as well as MPs of the Party, Nana Ohene Ntow, General Secretary, directed polling station executives to compile registers of members for validation by a constituency executive member and regional representative assigned to each station.

Mr Biney claimed that the General Secretary stated that the compilation and validation was to be done before nomination forms were sold to prospective candidates who wished to stand for elections for various positions at each polling station.

The Plaintiff said the Regional Office of the party appointed one Albert Otchere, to co-ordinate the compilation and validation of the list of each polling station within the constituency, before nomination for polling station executives were invited and elections held. Mr Biney alleged that notwithstanding the clearly stated guidelines for the election of polling station executives, the MP and Constituency Chairman and one Ben Brown, had gone round to select polling station executives, thus side-stepping the laid down regulations, and also without the involvement of the co-ordinator, as directed by the Regional Office.

He averred that the MP, together with the Constituency Chairman, had on their own, without the involvement of polling station executives, compiled membership register for each polling station, which have not been validated. This, in Mr Biney's view, clearly contravenes the rules and regulations of the NPP.

The court is to serve the defendants with copies of the writ, eight days after which they will either personally file notices of appearance or their counsel will do that on their behalf.