NPP wrangling is all about who controls the Party and campaign

There is something disturbingly wrong with Ghana’s biggest opposition party the New Patriotic Party (NPP). Since they returned from Tamale where they elected their new National Executives, it has been one ‘wahala’ after the other. One thing however is very clear; the fire is all coming from only one direction; that is those who clearly back a certain candidate and want an early congress.

It is these people who are all over the social media, holding press conferences, posting press releases and actually going on radio stations not only to canvass support for an early congress but also to insult those they suspect are delaying the process.

Of course we cannot forget the pending court case challenging the ‘National Council’ that opened nominations for the flagbearship contest in the party. The litigant, a former constituency chairman of the NPP is arguing that the National Council is not properly constituted. Indeed the NPP’s constitution provides that fifty (50) per cent of the regional representatives to the National Council be elected through Regional Delegates Conferences.

Even though the National Executives requested Regional Chairmen of the party to comply with the constitution, the Chairmen blatantly refused, and hand picked their own people. It was not until the court case popped up that these Regional Chairmen started talking about ‘Emergency Regional Conferences’ to ‘elect’ their representatives to the National Council. Even then in less than a week they gathered some constituency executives and got them to acclaim the same names the Regional Chairmen had earlier hand picked.

The highest decision making body of the NPP after the National Delegates Conference is the National Council. Since National Delegates Conferences are rarely held (once every four years), it means that the National Council is actually the ruling body of the NPP. The framers of the NPP constitution must have realized that it will be an anomaly for an UNELECTED BODY to instruct the ELECTED NATIONAL EXECUTIVES on the operations of the Party and that is why they insisted that majority of the members the National Council be people who are elected or where once elected into positions of the party.

If some members of the party are hand picked to constitute the National Council and to give direction to the elected National Executives of party then, that means that the power of the party’s delegates and the National Delegates Conference would have been negated. It means party executives can elect their preferred national executives, but somebody will choose his National Council to run the party. An elected group that takes instructions from an unelected group; That cannot be democracy. That is akin to a coup d’état. Remember that this hand picked members of the council did not campaign among the executives and really are not answerable to them.

That is the current situation of the NPP from what we have gathered and we wonder why a group of people will go all these lengths and scheme so hard to impose an irregularity on their own party not minding whose horse is gorged. It comes down to two things; WHO CONTROLS THE PARTY AND THE UPCOMING 2016 CAMPAIGN. If things remain the way they are now then the Party will once again be out of the campaign. Sorry folks you will not be part of the gravy train.