NPP boils ; Over moves to promote Affirmative Action
A move by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to promote affirmative action in the party by reserving 16 parliamentary seats exclusively for its female parliamentary aspirants has struck a discordant note with some rank and file members of the party, who have agitated for an immediate review.
Following a statement issued by the National Executive Committee (NEC) to that effect, some party members and activists besieged the party’s headquarters yesterday to register their strong protest.
They presented a petition to the leadership of the party to take a second look at the proposal adopted by the NEC for only female aspirants to contest the 16 female Members of Parliament (MPs) in their respective constituencies.
Rancorous reaction
The rancorous reaction from party members earlier yesterday led to a sharp U-turn which saw the Communications Director of the party, Nana Akomea, back-tracking on the statement issued and saying that the decision was not an executive fiat that would be forced down the throats of party members.
He said the NPP would rely on moral persuasion in impressing on its potential male aspirants not to contest those seats, saying in the worse-case scenario, only female aspirants would be allowed to contest the primaries in those 16 constituencies.
The NEC of the NPP, at a meeting last Monday, adopted the proposal for only female aspirants to contest the 16 female MPs in their respective constituencies.
Similarly, it was agreed that a number of coastal constituencies in the Greater Accra Region should be contested by Ga indigenes, except in exceptional circumstances.
The constituencies are Ngleshie Amanfrom, Ablekuma South, Odododiodoo, Korle Klottey, La Dade Kotopon and Ledzokuku.
The rest are Krowor, Tema East, Tema West, Kpone Katamanso, Amasaman and Obom Domeabra.
It was also agreed that women, the youth and people with disability should be given 50 per cent rebate on both the filling and the development fees.
Supporters throng party office
Some supporters of the NPP yesterday thronged the party’s headquarters at Asylum Down in Accra to register their displeasure with the party’s decision to disallow male aspirants to contest incumbent female MPs.
Wearing red armbands and numbering about 70, the supporters, made up of both women and men, demanded that the party rescind its decision to implement that policy for the parliamentary primaries slated for May 24, 2015.
The group also marched to the Nima residence of the party’s flag bearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to express their displeasure there.
The supporters were mainly from Ablekuma West in the Greater Accra Region and Awutu-Senya East in the Central Region.
According to some of the members of the group who spoke to the Daily Graphic, the decision by the party could cause the NPP to lose the 2016 general election.
One of them, Mr Evans Tawiah, said allowing female incumbent MPs to run unopposed was a bad decision by the party hierarchy.
Another protestor, Ms Precious Gamar, argued that the incumbent MP for Ablekuma West, Ms Ursula Owusu, had failed the constituency and, therefore, she could not be allowed to contest the parliamentary primary unopposed.
Filing fees
Meanwhile, at the NEC meeting, the party leadership approved the road map towards the organisation of its parliamentary primaries as mandated by its constitution.
It said nomination fees for aspirants seeking to contest the primaries had been pegged at GH¢30,000.
Nominations for the primaries would be opened on March 30, 2015 and closed on April 10, 2015.
A statement signed by the General Secretary, Mr Kwabena Agyepong, said the vetting of aspirants would take place from April 13 to 17, 2015 and announcement of vetting results made on April 20, 2015.
It said appeals at the regional levels, if any, would take place from April 20 to 24, 2015 and at the national level, if any, from April 24 to 30, 2015.
Furthermore, it said the notice of poll would be placed from April 24, 2015 and Election Day set for May 24, 2015.
It also approved that each parliamentary aspirant in the orphan constituencies pay a filing fee of GH¢10,000, while each sitting MP seeking re-election pay a filing fee of GH¢10,000.
Each parliamentary aspirant in constituencies with sitting NPP MPs will pay a filing fee of GH¢10,000, plus a development fee of GH¢20,000.
The NEC also authorised the General-Secretary, in consultation with the regional executives, to vary election dates as deemed appropriate.
The NEC also confirmed the appointment of Mr Eddie Tettey as the substantive Director of Finance and Administration of the party.
Relatedly, a former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Nii Ayikoi Otoo, has supported the decision to reserve some seats in the Greater Accra Region for indigenous Gas.
“I think that it is a good idea to bring Gas on board to let them know that the NPP is not anti-Ga,” he told Starr News yesterday.
Nii Otoo, a Ga who contested the Krowor seat in 2008 but lost, said reserving some strategic seats for Gas would help give true meaning to a Ga caucus in Parliament.
He said he knew of only four Gas who were currently occupying seats in the Greater Accra Region, a situation which he noted was uncomplimentary of the indigenous people.
He, however, described as “undemocratic” a directive from the national executives of the NPP that none of its 16 incumbent female MPs should be challenged by men in the forthcoming parliamentary primaries.
