Internal wranglings in NPP. . . Upper East Regional chair urges unity
The Upper East Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Adams Mahama, has called for unity among national executive of the party.
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He equally entreated the National Chairman, Mr Paul Afoko and the General Secretary, Mr Kwabena Agyepong, to work together with the other party executives and "stop their preferred mode of operation, which is only fuelling flames of suspicion".
In a statement, Mr Mahama said "after what happened at the last Steering Committee meeting, the rank and file of the party want to see the national officers working together. Would it not have been nice if the chairman and the general secretary had chosen to go on this trip of the regions with the other national officers to show unity? "the statement asked.
It stressed that if the national chairman and general secretary "want to be believed that they mean well then they should let us see that they are prepared to work with the other elected national officers and not to be seen to be running a two-man show thereby marginalising the other national executives".
"The delegates in Tamale, last year, elected national officers on the same day and charged them to work together, and that is what the rank and file want to see. We in the regions are willing and ready to work with all of them but we shall not tolerate anybody who wants to be an impediment in the route to victory in 2016," the statement added.
Structures
It further pointed out that "they must respect the structures and hierarchy of the party and work with them, including their colleagues at the headquarters and the regional chairmen across the country”.
The statement also indicated that the more the national chairman and the general secretary sideline those the party constitution states they must work with, the more suspicion and problems they fuel in the NPP.
"We want them to consult the leadership of the party in the various regions and not to sideline existing structures of communication and operation in the running of the party at the regional level" it further stressed.
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Incident
Touching on the incident that occurred at the Azonsolum Guest House at Bolgatanga where some irate youth disrupted a meeting convened by the national chairman and the general secretary, the statement noted that he (Mr.Mahama) as a Regional Chairman of the Party was in Accra the whole of last week until last Thursday.
The statement noted that he (the regional chairman) boarded a morning flight to Tamale just like Messrs Afoko and Agyepong on that Thursday.
"In fact they were well aware of my presence in Accra as I had been to the National headquarters on several occasions during this week, and yet they chose not to inform me about their intention to visit my region. They rather chose to consult and work with some constituency and regional executives" it observed.
That the statement noted was not helpful, especially at a time when "we want to build unity at the leadership level".
"This unfortunate development was entirely avoidable because it has brought to the fore two urgent matters which have to be rectified as soon as possible and the elected National Officers of the Party must be proactive in doing so"it emphasized.
The statement further explained that he(Mr.Mahama) took steps to rather calm the anger and frustration of party members and sympathizers and urged the rank and file of the party to put their trust in the party's leadership for lasting resolution of the problem.
Apology
Mr. Mahama however on behalf of the NPP regional executives in the region apologized to Messrs Afoko and Agyepong for the unfortunate incident.
In a related development,Mr.Mahama was quoted as saying on a Kumasi-based FM station that the youth’s action was to communicate to the party national executives that they should work in unison.
“The youth have shown their displeasure on that, so I’m very grateful to them. All what they are asking the national chairman to convey to the national headquarters is that they want party unity and they want the national chairman, the general secretary to work with the rest of the executives" he noted.
“The next time they are coming to the Upper East Region they should come with the national organiser, deputy national youth organiser, the national Nasara coordinator; when we see them together, then we know that yes, there is unity at the party headquarters,” Mr.Mahama reportedly added.