Effutu NDC parliamentary candidate steps down

The Parliamentary Candidate of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), in the Effutu Constituency of the Central Region, Mr Victor Yankson, has stepped down with barely 10 months to the 2020 general election.

According to sources within the NDC in the constituency, Mr Yankson, who was elected about four months ago, tendered in a letter addressed to the General Secretary of the NDC, Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia, last Monday, announcing his decision to step down.

Although details in the said letter are not readily available, it is believed that he stepped down as a result of the uncooperative attitude of the constituency executive members and party bigwigs since his election in October 2019.

Lack of commitment

According to some insiders, the parliamentary candidate had not shown much commitment to the course of the party, resulting in a rift cause of the party, resulting in a rift between him and the leadership.

“Our candidate has not co-operated with the party leadership, which had led to a deterioration of the relationship between them,” a source said, adding that the party needed a candidate who was prepared and poised to wrest the parliamentary seat from the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

Mr Yankson defected from the ruling NPP in 2018 to join the NDC, contested in the primary and emerged victorious.

In the hotly contested primary, Mr Yankson polled 360 votes to defeat his only challenger, Mr Henry Kweku Bortsie Ghartey, who managed 324 votes.

Run-up to primary

In September 2019, some supporters of the NDC in the constituency called on the leadership of the party at both the constituency and national levels to approach and persuade Dr Kofi Annan, who had then declared his intention to contest the 2020 election as an independent parliamentary candidate, to lead the party as its parliamentary candidate for the 2020 general election.

According to them, the problem the Effutu Constituency of the NDC was facing was that the constituency did not have any clear marketable person capable of annexing the seat for the party, which is currently occupied by the NPP Member of Parliament, Mr Alexander Afenyo Markin.

Way forward

The current development in the party has presented a dicey situation for the leadership of the party to deal with.

While some party supporters are calling for fresh nominations to pave the way for interested persons to pick forms to enable the party to elect another candidate to lead them into the next election, others have renewed their call for the party to approach Dr Annan to abandon his independent candidature and contest on the ticket of the NDC.