Asante Akyem Central NPP Defies National Directive
Some executives of the Asante Akyem Central Constituency of the opposition New Patriotic Party have allegedly defied a directive from the party’s national leadership to suspend ongoing polling station elections over claims of irregularities.
The development follows a petition submitted by some constituency executives and party activists to both the Ashanti Regional and National leadership of the party, raising concerns over what they described as breaches in the electoral process.
According to the petitioners, the party’s General Secretary, Justin Kodua Frimpong, directed the Ashanti Regional Secretariat to engage the aggrieved members and resolve the issues before the elections continue.
However, despite the directive, polling station elections are reportedly taking place in the constituency.
In the petition, the aggrieved executives accused some constituency officers of manipulating the membership registration process and violating party guidelines.
They alleged that instead of using the official party membership register during the exercise, some officers used exercise books to record names before allegedly transferring the data secretly into the official register.
The petitioners claimed several committed party members who participated in the registration process later discovered their names had been omitted from the final register.
They further alleged that some polling station executives deliberately failed to organise meetings in certain electoral areas, thereby denying some party members the opportunity to register.
The petition also accused some constituency executives of allowing interested persons to interfere in the electoral process.
According to the petitioners, former Municipal Chief Executive for Asante Akyem Central, Hon. Robert Yaw Kwakye, who has reportedly declared interest in contesting the parliamentary primaries, participated in meetings regarding the electoral process contrary to party regulations.
The aggrieved members also questioned the appointment of polling station election committee members allegedly submitted to the regional office without approval from the Constituency Executive Committee.
They further objected to plans to allegedly disqualify some party members accused of supporting an independent candidate during previous elections, insisting no disciplinary action had officially been taken against such persons.
The petitioners are therefore demanding immediate suspension of the electoral process, an independent investigation into the preparation of the electoral register, nullification of the alleged unapproved committee list, and an end to what they described as unfair disqualifications.
The petition was signed by Deputy Youth Organizer Prince Atta Sakyi, Women’s Organizer Hawa Salifu, Deputy Organizer Daniel Kwame Frimpong, Constituency Secretary Felix Addo, and Constituency Organizer Jones Osei.
Copies of the petition were addressed to the Ashanti Regional Chairman in Kumasi and the General Secretary of the party in Accra.
