Freddie Blay okays WR vetting

The First National Vice Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Freddie Blay, has hailed the successful vetting of the party’s parliamentary aspirants in the Western Region, held from Wednesday, May 5 to Friday, May 7, 2015.

Mr Blay, together with Christine Churcher, former Member of Parliament (MP) for Cape Coast, represented the national executives of the party to supervise the vetting process in the region.

In all, 52 parliamentary aspirants who picked and submitted their nomination forms were vetted, with 13 of them standing unopposed.

The regional NPP vetting process went on at three places namely, Takoradi, Asankragwa and Sefwi Wiawso.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with DAILY GUIDE after the vetting, Mr Freddie Blay stated that proceedings were peaceful and smooth.

He however, indicated that there were three constituencies where there were some issues to deal with and mentioned the areas as Kwesimintsim, Tarkwa and Evalue-Ajomoro-Gwira.

Asked whether the little problems could lead to the disqualification of any of the aspirants, Mr Blay indicated that the panel would decide, stressing that he just represented the national executives to supervise the vetting process adding, “But I asked some few questions.”

The NPP has fixed June 13, 2015 for its parliamentary primaries across the length and breadth of the country.

Earlier in an interview with DAILY GUIDE, the Western Regional Chairman of the NPP, Mr Kofi Atta Dickson Nketsia, popularly called Kendicks, urged aspirants and their supporters to respect the rules of engagement to ensure that there would be no acrimony before, during and after the vetting.

“It will be wrong for any aspirant, sympathizer or anybody who is an NPP member, to go on radio before, during and after the process to bring the name of the party into disrepute because that person doesn’t like candidate A or B,” he cautioned.

Mr. Nketsia told DAILY GUIDE that he was very sure that the NPP would recapture all the seats the party lost in the last general elections, come 2016.

The Communication Officer of the party in the region, Okatekyie Amankwa Afrifa, was hopeful that all the 52 aspirants would pass the vetting.