Don't blame me for NPP defeat

The Western regional Chairman of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Owusu-Ankomah, has told The Chronicle that it would be unfair for his opponents to attribute the party's abysmal performance in the region to him alone.

Nana Owusu-Ankomah, who is seeking re-election for the third time as the NPP chair, disagreed that the only way to measure his success is the number of parliamentary seats he was able to obtain for the party.

Speaking in an interview with The Chronicle, Nana Owusu Ankomah asked: "Since I have not been able to acquire more votes and seats for the party, it means I have been an unsuccessful chairman. This is not a fair comment."

Nana Owusu-Ankomah was elected as chairman of the party in 2005, and since then the parliamentary seats and votes of the party had dwindled.

Upon his assumption of office, NPP has lost Enchi, Jomoro, Shama, Prestea, Amenfi-Central, Wassa Akropong, Sefwi-Bekwai and the Ahanta West seats.

It is based on this sad development that his opponents are calling on him to pull out of the race to save the party from annihilation. But Nana Owusu Ankomah told The Chronicle that his opponents, who are blaming him, have failed to do proper analysis of what led to dwindling fortunes of the party.

He argued that instead for his opponents finding out the cause of the party's bad performance in the region, they are rather blaming him for unjust reasons.

Nana Owusu-Ankomah noted that the party lost elections in all cocoa growing areas, the border towns, towns and villages where galamsey is practiced, and the coastal towns.

He attributed this development to the loose manner the party policed the registration of voters. Nana Owusu Ankomah assured the people that when given the chance again, he would tackle registration matters with the seriousness it deserves.

He further told this reporter that apart from the registration blues, the seats the party lost could be attributed to unnecessary internal bickering among the executives of the party.

According to him, some party executive members were wrongly interpreting the constitution of the party and also undermining his authority.

These same regional executives, he continued, campaigned against some NPP parliamentary candidates.

"Don't you know how some regional executives ganged up against Samuel Johnfiah and he lost the Ahanta West seat", Nana Owusu-Ankomah asked this reporter, adding that "all these regional executives have turned around and are blaming me for the party's loss".

The Chronicle can independently report that the current crop of regional executives have never seen eye to eye with each other. The 1st Vice Chairman, Kwesi Biney, Secretary Anthony K. Sam, who is seeking re-election, are at loggerheads with Owusu-Ankomah.