National Democratic Congress MP for  Damango wants the Northern Regional Minister Alhaji Mohammed Muniru Limuna sanctioned for violating the party’s constitution and campaigning for the parliamentary seat even before the party opens nominations.

According to intelligence reports the MP says he has received, the minister has been to the constituency and met with some Mallams, constituency executives, and two former chairmen of the party and declared his plans to run for the seat.

He also revealed that the regional minister also went to the party father and moved to the communities, canvassing for support.

At all these meetings and encounters, he said the regional minister “declared his intentions to contest”.

“I want them to call him to book, he has flouted the constitution and directives of the regional chairman,” he demanded.

He said the move breaches Article 43 of the party’s constitution and a directive by the regional chairman that no aspirant should campaign until nominations are opened.

“I thought that being the first gentleman of the region, he would be the last to flout that directive, but he happens to be the first and therefore he is likely to open the floodgates for other people to come in and that will be disastrous,” he cautioned.

The MP, Adam Mutawakilu, told Joy News  Monday the Regional Minister is cunningly using the name of the President in his campaigning saying the president has encouraged him to contest.

“We all know in Damango that it was a blatant lie”, he said, recalling that Alhaji Limuna used this same old strategy in 2012 only for the president to distance himself from his claim.

“It is too early for him to be training for a re-match. At the right time, we will have it. I don’t fear any contest,” the MP said.

But the alleged campaign activities conducted by the regional minister means “development will suffer,” Adam Mutawakilu fears.

In a reaction, the regional minister Alhaji Mohammed Muniru refuted the claim of campaigning before the opening of nominations.

He acknowledged that he has visited the constituency but said it was only to give the executives “hope” and discuss party matters.

This is something he has also done in other constituencies, he revealed, adding the MPs there did not complain.

He also admitted meeting the Yagbonwura [the Gonja Overlord] but insisted it was to discuss a “security” matters as the chairman of the Northern Regional Security Council.

Continuing his defence, the minister added that it was party executives who “followed” him around during the National Sanitation Day clean-up exercise.

Eventually “we had to sit down and talk about the party” after the clean-up exercise, he said. If he told any party executive of his intentions, it was only in answer to a question.

But he denied meeting any group of mallams.

Nonetheless as a politician, he will “cross the bridge” when the time comes for formal declaration to contest is permitted.

He pledged his commitment to abide by the directives, saying he had a hand in getting the regional chairman, Sofo Azorka, to issue it.

The Damango MP told his 2012 opponent in the primaries that being in “a scientific world”, he had recordings of his meetings which he intends to use at the right time.

The regional minister called his bluff, telling him that he cannot run the party in the media.

Myjoyonline.com

The Member of Parliament for Manhyia North, Hon. Collins Owusu Amankwah has expressed worry over the NPP’s chances of wrestling power from the NDC as the party’s leadership has failed in all attempts to resolve its internal wrangling.

The struggles, he said, was negatively affecting activities at the grass-root level and therefore called for a more swift systematic and amicable ways of resolving issues at the party’s hierarchy.

He was contributing to a discussion on Adom TV’s Badwam morning show programme Tuesday, after reports suggest another power struggle between Chairman Paul Afoko, General Secretary Mr. Kwabena Agyepong and some members of the party’s steering committee as the two top officials were allegedly not informed of a meeting held on Monday.

Meanwhile, First Vice Chairman of the Party, Mr. Freddie Blay has since denied claims that the National Chairman and General Secretary were not informed of the Steering Committee Meeting.

He explained that the meeting was convened in accordance to Article 9(1)2(a) of the party’s constitution which states that in the absence of the National Chairman, the First Vice Chairman can call for any meeting.

However, the Manhyia North who sounded very much uncomfortable with reactions emanating from the Party’s Headquarters called for peace to reign in the party, adding that Ghanaians were still looking up to the NPP to salvage them from the country’s worsening economic hardship.

He noted that the NDC’s economic mismanagement and failure to resolve the recent erratic power supply offers the NPP a better chance to win the upcoming 2016 election but only do so if the party could strategize well and resolve its internal issues.

Emmanuel Frimpong Mensah/Ghanamp.gov.gh

Member of Parliament for Effutu, Alexander Afenyo-Markin has said President John Dramani Mahama is not to be bothered about the effect of the current power crisis on Ghanaian businesses, because his brother’s business is thriving in spite of the power difficulties.

The ongoing power crisis which has entered its fourth year, has resulted in several companies shutting down operations partially or wholly, leading to some workers being laid off. Groups such as the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) and Ghana Chamber of Commerce have complained severally about the devastating effect of the power crises on their businesses.

President John Mahama during his address at this year’s May Day celebration in Accra said smart businesses are not laying off workers, but “are rather investing more resources to expand their production in Ghana.”

However speaking on Multi TV’s Badwam show on Monday, Hon. Afenyo Markin stated that he was not surprised the least about the President’s comment since he and his family are privileged and are nor feeling the pinch of the power crisis.

“Why will President Mahama not say what he said when Engineers and Planners (E&P), his brothers company is doing well despite Dumsor Dumsor. He and his family are constantly supplied with electricity so that is what he’ll say. The least the President could do was to share in the suffering of Ghanaians and not to add more insult to their injuries” he said.

Hon. Afenyo Markin stressed that this certainly cannot be an era of better Ghana like the government promised Ghanaians when there is economic hardship coupled with such intense power crisis.

He urged President John Dramani Mahama to render an unqualified apology to Ghanaians for his comments as the entire country has largely remained very patient with the government despite the worsening state of affairs.

Kwadwo Anim/Ghanamps.gov.gh

 

The number of New Patriotic Party (NPP) members joining the race to oust the Minority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei- Mensah-Bonsu, from becoming the party’s Suame parliamentary candidate for the 2016 Elections is rising by the day.

With  nominations expected to close today, five other members have picked their forms and not only that, but they have also mounted spirited campaign using bill-boards, the media and interaction with the delegates.

The five have all stated their avowed intentions to end the 20-year-reign of the two-time minority leader of the opposition NPP in Parliament.

They all believe that he had paid his dues and that he should pave the way for others to offer fresh ideas, leadership and direction to the constituency.

2012 Primaries

Unlike the 2012 NPP parliamentary primaries when the Minority Leader contested the position unopposed and went ahead to secure the Suame seat for the party, this time round, he is facing some contenders.

Refreshingly, all the five have commended the minority leader for his work so far but believe that they will individually do better when offered the opportunity.

Contenders

First to rear his head and pick the forms was a 35-year-old lawyer, John Darko, who is a law lecturer at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA). He did that on April 7, 2015 and has consequently completed and submitted the forms.

He was followed by the incumbent, Mr Osei Kyei- Mensah-Bonsu, who did the picking on April 10, 2015.

On April 14, 2015, Mr Richard Buadi Soadwa picked his forms, followed by Chief Yaw Anokye Frimpong on April 15, 2015, with Kwabena Osei-Adubofuor becoming the fifth person to pick the forms on April 20, 2015. The sixth person was Mr Kwadwo Boateng Genfi, who did that on April 22, 2015.

The Constituency Secretary, Ms Letitia Oppong Gyedi, indicated that the office was open to every party member who was interested in picking the forms. She gave the assurance that the constituency would not hinder any member from participating in the primaries provided that person met all the stated requirements.

Minority Leader

The four-time member of Parliament, who has not made any comment about the forthcoming contest, especially regarding his new opponents, has always maintained that his work in the constituency, the party and Parliament speaks volumes and these are his trump card.

Fanfare

The picking of nominations have been characterized by fanfare, press conferences and meetings with delegates.

Addressing a press conference after picking the forms, Mr Darko said the party’s votes in Suame had been reducing over the years and that he had what it took to stop the “haemorrhage” and secure more votes for the party.

He was of the strong belief that the delegates must not elect an aspirant who would not only win the seat for the party but a person whose presence would also trigger more people to come out and vote massively for the NPP .

He explained that the party had targeted at least 85 per cent of the votes in the region that can be achieved in a very high voter turnout rate, adding, “I represent the required change that would garner the needed votes for the NPP to win the 2016 elections with a high margin.”

Mr Darko assured the delegates of an open-door policy where every decision would be taken after broad consultation with the people because he only represented their interests.

He described his one-on-one interaction with some of the delegates as very encouraging and insightful and expressed confidence that he would emerge the winner on June 13, 2015.

Genfi

The fanfare associated with the picking of the forms by Mr Kwadwo Boateng Genfi, a 56-year-old business consultant, could aptly be described as the biggest so far. A long convoy of vehicles carrying supporters wearing NPP T-shirts with his name and picture embossed on them went through the already-congested Suame roads.

Addressing delegates after the roadshow, Mr Genfi reminded the gathering that he was not new to the party and that his support for the party began way back.  He mentioned the current party office which he had offered to the constituency free of charge for the past 12 years as one of his contributions.

He said he had over the years thrown his support behind the incumbent but this time round, he wanted to enter the scene and offer hope to the people, unite the entire constituency and provide the needed leadership.

Most of the aspirants have resorted to one-on-one interaction with the delegates and avoided media blitz till they had filed their nominations and gone through vetting. They said they believed that their target audience for now was the over 500 delegates and that was where they were concentrating their strength.

Constituency profile

This constituency was created prior to the 2004 Elections when the Old Tafo-Suame constituency was split into the Old Tafo and Suame constituencies.

Suame Magazine is an industrialised area with many workshops for metal engineering and vehicle repairs in Ghana, employing an estimated 200,000 workers. It is located withn the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA).

Results

In 2004, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu had 45,500 votes, representing 82. 1 per cent.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, Mr Richard Paul Yeboah, had 8,448 votes representing 14.3 per cent; Mr Frederick Antwi of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) had 1,157 which in percentage terms was 2.0. Mr Young Sampson Agonno of the People’s National Convention (PNC) had 934 votes representing 1.6 per cent.

Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu won again in 2008 with 45,235, representing 78.31 per cent, followed by David Osei Manu of NDC who had 9,742 votes representing 16 per cent. Frederick Antwi Nsia of CPP had 2,409 representing 4.17 per cent while Mr Ameyaw Aboagye of the Democratic People’s Party (DPP) had 379 votes, representing 0.66 per cent.

The Minority Leader had 60,828 votes in the 2012 elections, representing 79.5 per cent.

Alidu Baba Dambasa of NDC secured 10,589 votes, representing 13.78 per cent.

An independent candidate, Osei Bempah Hayford, had 3,725 votes, representing 4.88 per cent, and Solomon Nkrumah Appiah Kubi of Progresive People’s Party (PPP) had 433 votes, representing 0.56 per cent.

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