NPP primaries: Offinso NPP youth invoke curses on party executives

Some youth claiming to be supporters and polling station executives of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Offinso South Constituency of the Ashanti region have invoked curses on any individual or group that attempt to disqualify any of the four aspirants contesting the incumbent Member of Parliament, Mr. Abdallah Bandah to go unopposed.

After presenting their to party leadership, the bare-chested men clad with pieces of cloth around their heads and arms also called on the gods to kill family members of the said individuals. In their incantations, the supporters said.

“We are using Antoa Nyama, Botwerewa, River Offin and River Abankro to invoke a curse on any member of the vetting committee who attempts to disqualify any of the four men contesting the incumbent MP. His children and wife must be annihilated. Any vetting committee member who shows bias towards one candidate must also be dealt with".

They added, “anyone who tries to manipulate the system in favour of anyone must not be spared.”

One of the aggrieved constituency delegates of Offinso South NPP, Mr. Collins Offeh said, “we travelled to a powerful shrine to invoke this curse. We are not joking so if they risk their own life if they think we are joking. We are not going to allow bribes to ruin our party. Some constituency executives are following the money to destroy the party.”



Read their full petition below:

PETITION BY DELEGATES, CHIEFS AND SYMPATHIZERS OF NPP, OFFINSO SOUTH CONSTITUENCY – 4th June, 2020.

TO: The National Chairman,

New Patriotic Party,

Accra.

Dear Sir,

PETITION ON UNFAIR DECISION TO MAKE OFFINSO SOUTH MP GO UNOPPOSED IN UPCOMING PARLIAMENTARY PRIMARIES.

We the undersigned officers(polling station executives, coordinators and other delegates) of our great Party( New Patriotic Party), chiefs and supporters of NPP in the Offinso South Constituency of the Ashanti Region have appended our signatures to this petition to express our disgust at an alleged decision by the Steering Committee and the apex leadership of this democratic party, to force the incumbent Member of Parliament of our constituency, Hon. Ben Abdallah Bandah on us by making him go unopposed in the upcoming parliamentary primaries.

Mr. Chairman, we have heard with much disappointment your office’s decision, allegedly approved by our President, to cause Mr. Abdallah Bandah to go unopposed.

This information is common knowledge in the entire Offinso South Constituency as leading supporters of the incumbent MP have unceasingly been announcing it at meetings with delegates and in the media.

to a powerful shrine to invoke this curse. We are not joking so if they risk their own life if they think we are joking. We are not going to allow bribes to ruin our party. Some constituency executives are following the money to destroy the party.”

As people who believe in democracy and the rule of law, coupled with the current conspicuously unpopular status of our MP, Abdallah Bandah who in his twelfth(12th) year as representative of the good people of Offinso South in parliament, we officially write to inform your office and humbly caution that if you go on with attempting to compel any other spirant to stop competing with Hon. Abdallah Bandah, in order to make him go unopposed(as a way to protect him), you will be doing the Offinso South NPP, our President, Addo Dankwa “Nana” Akufo-Addo and the entire NPP fraternity a great disservice, as the decision, much propagated by leaders of the MP’s camp, has already triggered serious disaffection and anger amongst the people, chiefs and other opinion leaders of Offinso South, at the party.

Mr. Chairman, we risk losing the Offinso South seat to an independent candidate in this year’s general elections if you dare prune other aspirants from the primaries.

For your information, in recent times, several communities, led by their opinion leaders have staged series of demonstrations and press conferences to express their dissatisfaction and disappointment in the MP, Hon. Ben Abdallah Bandah’s performance over his twelve year-period in parliament, and at all these programmes, the communities have warned our party, NPP, not to try presenting Mr. Abdallah Bandah as a parliamentary candidate or else they would throw their weight behind any independent candidate or that of our main opposition party, NDC.

The Omanhene of Offinso, recently, at a programme organised by our MP, of which he(Omanhene) was the chairman, publicly chastised Hon. Abdallah Bandah for disappointing his people and asked the MP not to think he could use gifts as stratagem to woo the traditional leaders and their people for his electoral victory pursuit.

Mr. Chairman, our MP, Abdallah Bandah’s incessant hatred for the Municipal Chief Executive of Offinso, Mr. Solomon Kesse and his uncountable attempts to demean and discredit him has brought serious disunity in the NPP at Offinso South. The MP has since the appointment of the MCE, refused to project the good work of our President, Nana Addo in the constituency since the project did not come through him.

His strive to sabotage the MCE and for that matter, our government, has bred serious hatred for him by financiers of our party and almost every admirer of the MCE.

Mr. Abdallah Bandah has a very bad relationship with traditional authorities and other opinion leaders in Offinso South due to his disregard for them. His own uncle, the Krontihene of Abofour was the speaker at one of the Press Conferences held against him(MP) at Offinso.

Sadly, our MP is currently plunging our party and President Nana Addo’s government into mockery as after promising some communities of using part the One Constituency, One Million Dollars to construct their roads, (rather) fuels the Offinso Municipal Assembly’s Motor Grader to grade those roads but still shamelessly tell them the grading work is their share of the president’s year of roads programme.

Mr. Chairman, we could go on and on with several facts on happenings, incidents and occurrences that make your alleged decision to make the current Member of Parliament for Offinso South, Hon. Ben Abdallah Bandah go unopposed a very wrong and dangerous move.

For the sake of protecting our seat at Offinso South, we the undersigned, advice the leadership of our great party to allow all the other two aspirants to contest the primaries with him in an open and fair manner.

Thank you.

Signed.