NPP bosses tear at each other

THE RIFT between the former Western Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Owusu Ankomah and his Vice, Kwesi Biney, which marred their administration whilst in office became manifest on Tuesday, this week, as the two former party executives went on air and rained unprintable words against each other.

It all started when Skyy Power FM, a Takoradi based radio station phoned Nana Owusu Ankomah, the immediate past regional chairman to comment on the qualities of candidates who had declared their intention to contest the party primary in the Ahanta West Constituency.

Nana Owsusu Ankomah grabbed the opportunity with alacrity and went overboard, describing one of the candidates as unsuitable, because the said candidate campaigned against the party’s parliamentary candidate in the 2012 parliamentary elections and the party eventually lost to NDC.

Nana Owusu Ankomah also used the platform to advice the delegates to look out for a candidate who is not arrogant, who does not fight chiefs and priests in the constituency.

Though Nana Owusu-Ankoma did not directly mention Kwesi Biney’s name during the interview, the latter concluded that he was referring to him. He, therefore, ‘honed’ his tongue, called the radio station, and started releasing ‘bullets.’

“This criminal who came into politics to amass wealth, who doesn’t know Nana Owusu Ankomah … ”, Kwesi Biney angrily told the host of the morning show programme, Omanbapa Winston Amoah. Mr. Biney completely went bananas, thus making it very difficult for the host to control him.

Mr. Kwesi Biney, a trained journalist alleged that during the 2012 election, bags of rice sent from the party head office in Accra to aid their campaign were locked up by the Chairman in his depot. “Nana Owusu Ankomah has no credibility; he is a … and a failure in life… This criminal,” he yelled on the phone.

In a related development, the race to be elected as the parliamentary candidate on the ticket of the opposition NPP in the Ahanta West Constituency continues to attract attention following the caliber of personalities who have lined up to contest the party primary.

Four card bearing members who have picked up their nomination forms are; Mr. Kwesi Biney, a former District Chief Executive (DCE) for the Ahanta West, Mr. John Kwesi Yankey, a defeated parliamentary candidate, Lawyer Kojo Kum and Mr. Kwesi Klutse. For now, the decision as to who would emerge victorious in the race would eventually be decided by the over 400 delegates in the constituency.

Though the four candidates that would be battling each other for the party parliamentary ticket have begun moves to convince the delegates as to why they must vote for them, the delegates on the other hand would have to weigh the strength and weakness of the four candidates before arriving at any decision.

Kwesi Biney, who served as the DCE for the area during the reign of President John Agyekum Kufuor might be relying on his achievements and contribution to the development of the constituency during his tenure as DCE. Mr. Biney would also be counting on his executive role as the former regional Vice Chairman of the party to apparently woo the delegates vote for him.

However, he (Mr. Biney) has a mountainous task to clear by convincing the delegates that he had no hand in the defeat of the former NPP Parliamentary Candidate of the area, Samuel Johnfiah. Again, Mr. Biney would have to convince the delegates that he is not arrogant and has never had a show down with traditional leaders in the area.

Mr. Kwesi Yankey Junior, who contested the former NPP Parliamentary candidate in the primary and lost by a single vote, would also be counting on his strength to woo the delegates as the next in line.

Kojo Kum is a Lawyer by profession and highly respected in the area. However, his inability to speak the Ahanta language may go against him. The chance of Mr. Kwesi Klutse, who was first to hit the ground running, is well known to the delegates. Though he is not a native, he had spent most of his life in the area.