NDC primaries: Haruna Iddrisu’s challenger disqualified in Tamale South parliamentary race

Correspondence from the Northern Region

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has disqualified the only candidate contesting former minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu in the Tamale South Parliamentary race of the party.

The party’s Northern Regional Vetting Committee explained that Bawah Abdul Fataw had admitted his membership had fallen short of the NDC’s guidelines for the election of parliamentary candidates of the party.

The committee said it found out that the disqualified parliamentary candidate has not been a member of the NDC for up to four years, contrary to Article 41(8)(b) of the NDC Constitution which states that “A member shall not be qualified to contest the primaries for a parliamentary seat if the person is not an active member of the party at the constituency level for four (4) years immediately preceding the date of filing nomination.”

The Northern Regional Vetting Committee of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has also responded to the disqualified parliamentary candidate for Tamale South Constituency, Bawah Abdul Fataw, giving him reasons for their decision.

In a letter sighted by GhanaWeb, the committee headed by the Deputy National Organiser, Godwin Ako Gunn, the committee said Mr.Bawah Abdul Fataw admitted to being a registered voter at Nawariyya Islamic Primary School Branch in Tamale Central Constituency.

“It will be recalled that when you appeared before the Vetting Committee today, 3 April 2023 you admitted that you became a member of the party in 2022 in the Tamale Central Constituency at the Nawariyya Islamic Primary School Branch with membership no C142410125,” the letter explained.

“Therefore, the Northern Regional Vetting Committee of the Party has been left with no choice but to inform you that you are not qualified to contest in the party’s upcoming primaries for the Tamale South Constituency,” It added.

The young politician filed his nomination to contest the Tamale South MP, vowing to defeat him at the party’s parliamentary primaries scheduled for May 13.

Many NDC sympathizers in the constituency had accused unnamed detractors of the former Minority Leader of planting Mr Abdul Fataw as a deliberate attempt to stop the powerful Tamale South legislator from going unopposed.

Meanwhile, hundreds of NDC sympathizers thronged the party’s Northern Regional Office to witness the vetting process of Mr Haruna Iddrisu.

Speaking after his vetting, Mr Iddrisu dared his opponents to contest him in the 2024 elections, saying that they cannot get more than five percent of the votes.

“Today I am here to honour the NDC constitutional requirement as the NDC unbeatable candidate for the 2024 general election and today marks the beginning of the NDC journey to victory in 2024.

"But the Tamale South seat is free, you can come in. The only thing I can assure you is that you won’t get more than 5% of the votes or probably 2%. You won’t make more than five percent,” he said.