eturnee and defeated chairman-aspirant of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobby has threatened to drag the party to court if its National Executive does not rescind its decision by the end of today May 31, to hold a national congress to elect a presidential candidate on August 7, 2010. According to Dr. Wereko-Brobby, who is also the former Chief Executive of the defunct Ghana @50 Secretariat, the conduct and processes leading to setting the date for the congress were unlawful and inconsistent with the provisions of the NPP Constitution.
In a legally-worded letter to the NPP Chairman, Jake Otanka Obetsebi-Lamptey, a copy of which is available to DAILY GUIDE, the former Chief Executive of the Volta River Authority (VRA) said he was particularly disturbed about “the patent disregard of the constitutional provisions in respect of the process to select the party’s Presidential Candidate for the 2012 General Election.
“My fear is that if we do not take immediate and urgent steps to reverse and correct the unlawful actions, our march to victory in 2012 could be check-mated by future legal actions to challenge the legitimacy of our presidential candidate to contest the General Elections,” said Dr. Wereko-Brobby, who had given indications of contesting the party’s flagbearership.
Even though the defeated NPP chairman-aspirant could not file at the close of nominations, he appeared to be fighting some kind of proxy war.
“The undue haste with which you have pushed for the party to select its presidential candidate far ahead of the 24-month period stipulated in the constitution, without taking cognizance of the obligations to ensure that your administration is firmly grounded within the laws of the party, has ensured that all the actions taken so far have been in breach of the Party’s Constitution, specifically in respect of the establishment of the National Executive Committee and National Council,” he said.
The defunct United Ghana Movement (UGM) presidential candidate submitted that the party’s constitution had conferred specific powers on the National Council and the National Executive Committee, in respect of the selection of the presidential candidate to contest general elections.
Amongst the principal obligations Dr. Wereko-Brobby pointed out, as set in Article 12. 1 of the party’s Constitution, were that “the date and venue for the election shall be decided by the National Council”.
Again, Article 12.8 states that the National Executive Committee in consultation with the National Council shall make rules and regulations governing the organisation and conduct of elections of a Presidential Candidate.
Correspondingly, Article 12 4(e) places the power to decide on the eligibility of prospective Presidential Candidates in the hands of a Vetting Committee whose core membership is made up of among others, the five Chairpersons of the other Standing Committees of the National Council.
According to Dr. Wereko-Brobby, the party’s National Executive was not complete, contending that it could only be regarded as duly constituted if and only when all of the positions had been filled.
He said to the best of his knowledge, the two Deputy General Secretaries, two Deputy National Organisers, two Deputy Women’s Organisers, two deputy Youth Organisers and others that he might not be aware of, had yet to be filled.
“I am advised that since we do not have a legally constituted National Executive Committee of the Party, it follows that we do not also have a legally constituted National Council.
In my view, the voting members of the National Executive Committee form an important element of the composition of the Council,” Dr. Wereko-Brobby stated, quoting Article 8.B (2i) of the NPP constitution to buttress his point.
He asked that all the processes set in motion so far must be brought to a screeching halt until such a time that the lawful measures had been taken to establish the decision-making organs of the NPP, to put the affairs of the party on a sound and proper legal footing.
Dr. Wereko-Brobby also asked the National Executive to quash the entire process and decisions taken so far for the selection of the party's Presidential Candidate on August 7, 2010 and complete the lawful constitution of the National Executive Committee by filling all the positions mandated by NPP Constitution which were currently vacant.
The party, he requested, should also establish the Standing Committees of the National Council and take such other actions as would reasonably enable the establishment of the Vetting Committee.
Interestingly, the party’s presidential hopefuls had been vetted by the committee put in place by the National Executive and all the five aspiring flagbearers had been screened, awaiting the report of the Vetting Committee.
He further called on the party to complete the establishment of the National Secretariat of the party by appointing the Executive Directors prescribed in the constitution and others that the National Executive deemed necessary.
The defunct UGM presidential candidate said the party, in consultation with the National Council, should develop the rules and regulations for the organisation of the election of the party's Presidential Candidate for the 2012 General Elections.
Furthermore, a National Council Meeting must be convened to approve fresh dates and the rules and regulations for the election of the candidate in line with the requirements of the party's constitution, and above all, to restart the process for the selection of the presidential candidate.
“It is my belief that the proposals I have made will not in anyway derail or confuse the efforts being made by various interested aspirants to become the party’s candidate for the 2012 election. Rather, I am convinced that doing things right will enhance your avowed commitment to create an even playing field for all those who aspire to lead the NPP to victory in 2012,” Dr. Wereko-Brobby suggested.
All these, according to him, would save the party from “potential legal pot-holes that could derail our quest for VICTORY 2012”.
