NPP groups declare support for Edumadze

Cape Coast, March 24, GNA - Some members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Central region calling themselves 'interested groups', on Friday, declared their support for the Regional Minister, Mr Isaac Edumadze, and deplored attempts reportedly being made by the regional executives of the Party to have him removed. Members of the group included constituency chairmen, members of the Nasara club and the University of Cape Coast and Cape Coast Polytechnic branches of the Tertiary Students Confederation (TESCON) of the NPP, as well as and a section of market women.

In a statement read on their behalf by Mr James Ehuren, Mfantseman West Constituency chairman at a press conference in Cape Coast, the groups referred to recent reports in the Ghanaian Chronicle that the regional executives and a concerned youth group had petitioned President Kufuor, calling for the removal of Mr Edumadze. Mr Ehuren described the allegations made against Mr Edumadze as "unfounded and destructive" saying they were orchestrated attempts to defame and discredit the Minister. He enumerated efforts being made by Mr Edumadze to uplift the image of the Party in the region, stressing that it was through the dynamism of the Regional Minister that the NPP had been able to increase its parliamentary seats from three in 1996, to 16.

According to Mr Ehuren, none of the "agitators" could marshal the political maturity exhibited by Mr Edumadze and the MP for Cape Coast, Ms Christine Churcher, to win support for the Party. He commended Mr Edumadze saying it was through his leadership that numerous chieftaincy disputes in the region went down. He accused the Managing Proprietor of the Chronicle, Mr Kofi Coomson, of launching "vicious attacks" on the Regional Minister and some MPs of the Party, since 2000 and asked him "to announce his defection from the Convention People's Party (CPP), instead of making efforts to stand on the NPP's ticket to contest the next elections in the Cape Coast Constituency "through the back door".

Clarifying the allegations against Mr Coomson, Mr Kwesi Sarbah, Cape Coast constituency chairman, alleged that Mr Coomson, had distributed food and some money to delegates during the constituency's elections on February 18 this year, an action, he said, indicated that "he had some agenda." When contacted, Mr Kofi Coomson, debunked the allegation that he was seeking membership of the NPP through the back-door and described them as "mere entertainment". He said he had no such agenda and that as a citizen of Cape Coast, he was interested in what happened in the area, as well as the development and of the entire region.