I withdrew on matters of principle - Vicky Bright
I withdrew from the Okaikoi South parliamentary primary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on matters of principle,” a former Legal Advisor to former President Kufuor, Mrs Vicky Bright, has declared.
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The NPP’s heart is in the right place but it is certain individuals who are not allowing the right thing to be done within the party and constituency, she told the Daily Graphic in an interview.
Giving some insights as to why she withdrew from the primary on Saturday, just a day to the event on Sunday, leaving incumbent Ahmed Arthur as sole candidate, the UK and Ghana qualified solicitor said “the party simply failed to respond to my numerous petitions. Since May 11, 2015, I had already sent three petitions to the party.”
Similar to the drama that surrounded the Korle Klottey Constituency primary recently, Mrs Bright also accused Arthur of presenting an alleged “forged certificate.”
Violence
According to Mrs Bright, violence had characterised the entire process and the Kaneshie Police are investigating an incident that happened recently.
“The whole thing is that it is not Vicky who is the problem. But I cannot be part of a fraudulent and violent process,” she quipped. “People are not taking their responsibility. Other people’s attitudes towards matters of the party are not serious and those who should do what is right are just doing things for convenience , she added.”
Alleged fraudulent process
On the alleged fraudulent process, Mrs Bright did not hesitate to mention that by the party’s own findings the candidature of Ahmed Arthur was a problem.
In line with this, she insisted that “the basis of his candidature as a parliamentary candidate is void and hollow.”
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She further argued that there were irregularities associated with the album used to conduct the primaries, saying “from 2011, the party itself decided to run a new album particularly for the OkaiKoi South Constituency.”
Additionally, Mrs Bright stressed that speculations and accusations in the public domain necessitated the need for the primaries to be put on hold for issues to be adequately dealt with.
Support for NPP
Notwithstanding the fact that Mrs Bright’s various petitions to the party were not addressed to her satisfaction, she said she would continue to fight for the right thing to be done in the NPP and support the party to win the presidential election.
She declared: “I am an NPP person; it is because of my commitment that I want the right thing done so that we can win 2016 but first we need to get the moral authority by doing the right thing in the party.”
In this regard, she called on the party to endeavour to abide by its own rules and regulations “so that we can trust the party.”
Background
Mrs Bright petitioned the party to disqualify the incumbent MP for allegedly forging his certificate from the Ghana Institute of Jurnalism, an action that led to the postponement of the primary in the Okaikoi South election.
But the party's Appeals Committee threw out the petition and set Sunday, August 2, 2015, for the election.
Election of the 2016 parliamentary candidate for the party in Okaikoi South was riddled with injunctions as Mrs Bright challenged the educational certificates the incumbent Ahmed Arthur submitted to the vetting committee.
But in a statement on Friday, July 31, the NPP General Secretary, Kwabena Agyepong, gave the green light for the elections in the constituency – and that of Klottey Korle – to come off on Sunday.
Announcing her decision to withdraw from the primary on Sunday, August 2, 2015, Mrs Bright said she had consulted her advisors, as well as family members, before making public the decision on Saturday, August 1.
Addressing a press conference a day before the elections, Mrs Bright challenged the processes leading up to the primaries, saying they “go against all the tenets upon which our great party was founded”.