NPP'S December Congress In Trouble

The former New Patriotic Party (NPP) Cape Coast constituency Executives, led by Mr. L. S. Sabah, have sounded a note of warning to the NPP National Chairman, Mr. Peter MacManu and all the Presidential aspirants that the December 22 congress can not come off so long as there is an injunction on the current constituency executives and a contempt charge against two national executive members. The former executives, who were voted out of office through the manipulation of the members of the constituency by Mr. Lord Commey, the National Organiser and the late Madam Hawa Yakubu, a former Vice Chairman of the party, warned that no attempt at sweeping the matter under the carpet would resolve the issue.

They reminded all the Presidential aspirants and the National Chairman of the party that there is still a contempt case pending against Mr. Lord Commey and the late Hawa Yakubu and therefore any attempt to recognize the new Executives as Delegates to the December Congress, would lead to contempt of the Cape Coast High Court. The former Executives had sought and were granted an injunction against the Regional Executives to prevent them from holding elections in the Cape Coast constituency.

Despite the February 2006 injunction from the Cape Coast High Court, the Late Madam Hawa Yakubu and Mr. Lord Commey went ahead to conduct an election in the Cape Coast constituency by manipulating the results of that elections in the constituency. The former Executives, in a statement of claim said, they are the Polling station chairmen of the NPP at Intsin and Auditorium, UCC in the Cape Coast Constituency respectively and the defendants are the Regional Executives of the NPP in the Central Region. According to them, information they received revealed that the Regional Executives had scheduled February 18, 2006 for election of officers for the Cape Coast Constituency.

The statement said the former Executives kicked against the idea because the electoral register the Regional Executives wanted to use for the said elections had been challenged by some members of the party in the constituency through protest letters to the Regional and National Executives of the party. Some of the letters, the Plaintiffs said, informed the party executive that some of the polling stations have not had their elections and those who have had their elections, were fraught with electoral malpractices .

The Plaintiffs maintained that there can not be constituency elections when there had not been elections in the Polling stations and prayed the court to prevent the defendants from carrying out the constituency elections because it would even go against the party’s constitution. The Cape Coast High Court on February 17, 2006 granted a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants from carrying out the constituency elections until the final decision of the court.

The Court also declared as null and void the electoral register intended to be used for the constituency elections.

It was after the Cape Coast High court decision that Mr. Lord Commey and Madam Hawa Yakubu, in flagrant disrespect to the High Court’s decision, went ahead and conducted the Cape Coast constituency elections in March 2006 and declared the current Executives winners. The Plaintiffs then file for contempt charges against the Central Regional Executives and two national Executive members namely Madam Hawa Yakubu and Mr. Lord Commey which is still pending.

For the current executives to be able to attend the December 22 Delegates congress and be able to vote as delegates from Cape Coast, Mr. Kofi Taylor, the NPP constituency Chairman of Winneba, sought to arbitrate in the matter but failed woefully in persuading, Mr. Ato Ward, a former constituency Executive and a plaintiff in the case to agree to an out of court settlement Mr Kofi Taylor, the arbitrator, told the court "our purpose was purely to ensure peace and unity within our fraternal constituency and reading other meanings into it was dangerous for us so we decided to call off the negotiations".

"On this basis we submit that our arbitration has failed to achieve results and the court can go ahead to determine the matter as it is", he added. Efforts by a team of senior members of the party to arbitrate in the matter had failed, meanwhile, there is a contempt of court charge pending against the Central Regional Executives of the party, Mr. Lord Commey and the Late Madam Hawa Yakubu, all unresolved.

How does the NPP hold a delegates congress without delegates from Cape Coast? That is the signals the pro-Christine Churcher Executives of the Cape Coast constituency are sending to the National Chairman and all the Presidential aspirants that they should forget the December 22 congress so long as the above cases are pending.