NPP risks rejection at 2016 election – Rev Markwei

The General Overseer of the Living Streams International Ministries, Rev. Dr Ebenezer Maama Markwei has counseled the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to put their house in order or risk rejection come election 2016.

He says the party risks becoming a not viable enough alternative should the current rumpus within its ranks continue, likening the present state of affairs to a house divided against itself.

He said what the Bible says is the truth – that a house divided against itself cannot stand and that the NPP appears a much divided party.

The NPP has been embroiled in a bitter leadership crisis that has seen the murder of the party’s Upper East regional chairman, Alhaji Adams Mahama, who was doused with acid leading to his death.

Speaking in an interview with Alhassan Suhuyini on Radio Gold, Rev. Markwei condemned the murder of Adams Mahama as a scary blot and un-Ghanaian, wicked act and called on the moral society and particularly the clergy, to speak up against it.

He said the incident has alarmed the populace and others beyond the borders of Ghana, while the debates it has engendered either for or against the developments don’t augur well at all for Ghana politics.

Rev. Markwei expressed hope that the developments are a mere happenstance other than a regulation of a culture of violence, for the latter called for even more caution.

“When things like that happen, there are two ways in which to look at it; is it just a happenstance or is it an indication of a culture of violence that has been embedded in the system that is now seeking expression. I’ll like to believe the first, that is it is a happenstance. But if I am not right, and I repeat, if I am not right, that even gives room for more carefulness and for caution because then if I am not right in my assessment that it is a happenstance, then that means it is the regulation of a culture of violence and that is not good. I want to believe that it is a happenstance and it will not be repeated and everything will be done to curb its [recurrence], to close the chapter on it, and even for the police force to arrest the culprits and let’s bring a closure to this thing, it is not good for this nation,” he said.

He also asked the party to respect its own constitution and abide by its tenets, saying calls for the removal of the party chairman and general secretary, as well as counter calls for the removal of the flagbearer should be channeled appropriately. 

Rev. Markwei reminded the NPP of its constitutional foundations and said the party cannot discard its grounding in what is lawful.

“They have to follow constitution and if they cannot follow their own constitution then it raises many questions in my mind. Because I know them to be people who talk constitutional law and they are very, very vocal on constitutional law. Therefore whatever they are doing they have to be very careful that they follow constitution so I’m concerned about the procedure they are trying to use to oust their leadership, both Nana Addo and Paul Afoko and Kwabena Agyapong.”