We want Oliver Kevor out - Afram Plains South NDC group

A group which calls itself, concerned National Democratic Congress (NDC) members of Afram Plains South Constituency, is calling on the National Executives to compel Mr. Kevor to withdraw his nomination and pave way for Mr. Eric Osei Owusu to contest on the ticket of the party.

According to the group, this will avoid any political doom befalling the party in the constituency during the upcoming December 7 Parliamentary election.

The (NDC) parliamentary candidate for the area who’s also the incumbent MP, Joseph Appiah Boateng, withdrew his candidature on the final day of close of nominations ahead of the 2016 elections.

The MP took the decision after a court granted a motion by one Dickson Adjei Danso that he (MP) should be prevented from the race because he is embroiled in a criminal case.

The party then fielded its Eastern Regional Secretary, Oliver Mark-Kevor in replacement of Boateng, after exhaustive consultations with regional executives and the National Secretariat.

But the Concerned NDC group, insist that Mr. Osei Owusu who contested the MP in the party’s primary and came second has been unfairly treated as he should have been allowed to contest the election and not Mark Oliver Kevor.

In a statement, signed by the Secretary of the group, Hercules Addofo said the General Secretary of the party, Mr. Johnson Aseidu Nketia had issued a letter to Mr. Eric Osei Owusu to proceed to file and contest the Afram Plains South Constituency, contrary to the orchestrations of the Eastern Regional executive of the party.

“These Regional executives’ attempt to get Mr. Mark-Oliver Kevor to contest, duplicates the authority of the General Secretary. This indeed would be unfair to Mr. Osei Owusu, who demonstrated commitment by investing huge resources to contest in the primaries against the incumbent who has withdrawn due to some legal issues.”

The statement added “This unfair treatment of Mr. Osei Owusu provokes legitimate questions such as: Who issues official directives for the party? On which authority would anybody in government or party issue a counter directives against that of the General Secretary, who is the legally mandated Administrator of the party? Do they really know that their conduct would bastardize the future of the party and that they need to be circumspect? If Mr. Kevor wanted to be an MP why didn’t he contest in the previous Primaries?

It noted: “Its revealing to know that the General Secretary is the authority who issued the Introductory Letters to all the 275 PCs in the country including that of Mr. Eric Osei Owusu to contest in their various constituencies. So why should Mr. Osei Owusu’s case be treated differently?”

The statement ended by saying “In view of this, we wish to call on the National Executives to compel Mr. Kevor to step aside for Mr. Eric Osei Owusu, who has been vetted and had participated in the Primaries to contest for the NDC in the Afram Plains Constituency.