The resignation of the controversial Mr. Kofi Wayo from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) continues to draw diverse opinions from party faithful and opponents alike.
While many party members thought Wayo's departure was good riddance because of his persistent embarrassing criticism of the government, others felt his action had dealt a big blow to the NPP, especially in an election year.
The latest to join the fray to give post-mortem analysis of the party's position on Kofi Wayo's decision was the national chairman of the NPP, Mr. Haruna Esseku.
In a chat with The Chronicle during the party's recent delegates conference in Cape Coast, the chairman said Kofi Wayo had forfeited his membership of the party for almost a year before his official announcement.
According to him, Wayo's resignation did not give "a single cause of worry "to the party to warrant his being invited to reconsider his decision.
Mr. Esseku explained that the party's constitution clearly states that whosoever, by acts of conduct and public statements or utterances, brings the party into disrepute, forfeits his membership.
"As far as we are concerned, Kofi Wayo ceased to be a member of this party for more than a year now because he has brought the party into public ridicule. He had no influence on the party and it is not now that we would be thinking about his departure from the party."
He said his departure would not affect the fortunes of the party and wished him a happy stay at wherever he may go. "May he be happy where he is."
Sounding like a prophet, Mr. Esseku predicted a win of 155 parliamentary seats for the NPP with substantial increase in presidential votes in next December's general election.
The national chairman dismissed as baseless alleged wrangling and confusion in the constituencies across the country.
"I would not call those things as confusion in the party. There is a problem now. The reason is this; we are selecting parliamentary candidates for 2004 (general election)."
He stated that as a result of the selection of the parliamentary candidates, some constituency chairmen tend to support particular candidates whiles some District Chief Executives also seem to support other candidates, which to him promotes a healthy competition rather than tension and confusion.
"It is obvious that during the period of primaries in our various constituencies there would be all sorts of claims as to who would get the nod. This has been misinterpreted as confusion. I don't call it confusion. It is a healthy competition among and between members of our party who want to be parliamentary candidates and such rumpus should be expected," he added
