Deputy Majority Leader Dumps NDC

...Goes Independent For Ashaiman Seat

The National Tribute Political Desk Report

Impeccable information, picked up by The National Tribute from confidants of Mr Alfred Kwame Agbesi, the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ashaiman constituency on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has revealed that he has broken ties with his party and is going as an independent candidate to contest the December 7 polls.

The MP, who lost his bid to lead the party again in the Ashaiman constituency during the party's primaries, has finished plans to contest the seat as an independent candidate and will soon shock his constituents with a declaration of his decision.

Though, tight-lipped and stricken with the fear of losing the seat to the New Patriotic Party (NDC), should the Deputy Majority Leader go ahead with his decision to contest as an independent candidate, some executives and stalwarts of the party in the constituency who spoke to the paper, confirmed that the lawyer is breaking ties with the party.

According to them, several members of the party's loyalists have been thronging the residence of the MP to beg him to rescind on his decision but such visits and pleas only fell on rocks as he blankly told them that he would not.

A stalwart of the party disclosed to The National Tribute: "We visited him on the issue of his decision to run as an independent candidate and he confirmed it. He told us clearly that he had decided to go independent because of what happened during the primaries. According to Mr. Agbesi 'This young man came here to share bags of rice and oil and thinks he can just fool the people of Ashaiman.'

Another close friend of the MP quoted him as saying "I am not evil but I feel it is unfair for such a thing to happen. When Ernest won, he decided not to invite any of the unsuccessful aspirants. He even lied that he visited my home and my wife poured hot water on him and his cohorts. That's a palpable lie."

"Who told you going that way does not show I love the party? I love my party that is why I would tread that path. I was invited by the Speaker of Parliament and was spoken to when he heard about my decision to run as an independent candidate, not to do it. However, I see that as hypocrisy.

I also asked him if they were not around when this boy was pushed unto the people of Ashaiman with supporting resources such as bags of rice, oil, blankets, mattresses and cloths," he continued when he was asked to put the party first.

Some NDC members told The National Tribute that the decision by Mr Agbesi to contest as an independent candidate stemmed from the fact that he believed that he was not given a fair platform by party officials in the constituency.

They further hinted that another factor which could have pushed Mr Agbesi into deciding to go independent could have come from several calls from party members who had expressed their displeasure at the election of the current parliamentary candidate of the constituency, Mr Ernest Norgbey, whom they described as ' a stranger in the constituency'.

Analyzing what could be become of their party's chances in the 2016 general elections if Agbesi goes ahead to contest as an independent candidate, a party member pointed out that during the 2012 elections, Mr. Agbesi polled 47,154 (49.89%), while Tony Afenyo, another disgruntled party member who went independent after the primaries prior to the 2012 general elections gathered 13,864 (14.67%) while the New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate, Seji Amedonu, polled 32,650 (14.67%).

The results, obviously, affected the NDC in the parliamentary, as Afenyo polled substantial votes from the NDC, because in the presidential results, President John Dramani Mahama polled 60,178 (63.73%) as against Nana Akufo-Addo of the NPP who gathered 33,725 (35.72%).

Prior to the 2000 general elections, similar wrangling within the Ashaiman NDC resulted in the current MP going independent; the outcome was disastrous for the party. The NDC lost the seat, for the first time, to the NPP.

It is against this backdrop that, some concerned NDC members in the Ashaiman constituency have called on the party hierarchy to ensure that unity prevails among the leadership of the party in the constituency and to do all it takes to stop the incumbent MP from executing his intentions to contest as an independent candidate.