NPP rules are no respecter of persons – Sir John

General Secretary of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has warned “all those who call themselves bigwigs in the party” to either conform or face the consequences.

“Nobody is bigger than the party and that must be made clear to all members of our party. Nobody is above the party and nobody is bigger than the party,” Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, otherwise known as Sir John emphasised.

He wondered: “…If gold rusts, what then will iron do?”

According to him, “they are the people who should ensure that there’s discipline in the party” rather than “behave in a manner that the National Executive Committee deems as inappropriate”.

He says the party will be encouraging “chaos” within its folds if such “big wigs” are not disciplined when they go wrong.

Mr. Owusu Afriyie’s warning comes on the heels of criticisms by founder-member Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe that the lethargic and indifferent posture of the party’s leadership regarding intolerance against dissenting members could disintegrate the NPP.

Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe warned that the festering intolerance in the party must be curbed immediately to avert an implosion within the NPP.

Dissenting voices within the party, including Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe, Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobby, Dr. Arthur Kennedy and Mr. Kwame Pianim have tasted the venom of leaders and groups within the NPP for breaking ranks on various issues.

Kwame Pianim and Dr. Wereko-Brobby were taken on by the rank and file of the party for disagreeing with the decision to challenge the 2012 presidential election results in court.

Dr. Wereko-Brobby incurred the party’s harshest wrath which resulted in his suspension for two years, after describing the NPP’s 2012 Vice Presidential Candidate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as a “clueless” and confused witness in the ongoing election petition hearing.

Mr. Pianim, also attracted a barrage of criticism when he accused the party’s leadership of exhibiting “intellectual and mental laziness” and further admonished the NPP to show courage and confront defeat saying: “When the results of an election are announced, we should be ready to accept the results no matter how bitter...the interests of individual members and those of the party sometimes differ”.

He also said: “Until the Supreme Court reverses the declared results of the 2012 elections, all Ghanaians, including NPP members, must fully recognise President Mahama as the legitimate Head of State of the republic and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces”.

The party also fell out with Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe for accusing the NPP’s Presidential Candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of being the cause of the party’s defeat in Greater Accra.

The former President of the Ghana Football Association made the accusation in his autobiography titled ‘Never Say Die’ which he launched a few months ago.

Former Presidential Aspirant, Dr. Arthur Kennedy also got his dose of the venom when he wrote his book, “chasing the elephant into the bush”, in which he chronicled certain miscalculations of the party as far as its 2008 election campaign and defeat were concerned.

Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe, on Friday told XYZ News he feared the height of “intolerance” in the party could plunge into an abyss.

The General Secretary, however, disagrees. Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie told XYZ News on Friday that the party’s rules are no respecter of persons.