Anxiety over Tema West NPP primary

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By William Yaw Owusu

Saturday July 19 2008
Some New Patriotic Party polling station chairperson in the Tema West constituency have made a fervent appeal to the party executives at the regional and national level to as a matter of urgency fix a date for the primary to be held.

They claimed that the silence by the regional executives of the party over a definite date on which a primary is to be held to select a candidate for the party is fuelling speculation that one of the two aspirants is being favoured for the ticket.

The contest is between Abraham Osei-Aidoo, the incumbent MP and majority Leader and Irene Naa Torshie Addo, a lawyer and Deputy Head of Mission at the Ghana Embassy in the United States.

Paul Azure Sampana, Tema Wes Constituency Chairman at a news conference yesterday said the electorate in the constituency had waited too long to see their parliament any candidate as well as make preparations towards serious campaigning.

He said almost all the constituencies have selected their candidates. We all expected ours to be done before the outdooring of our flag-bearer but this was not instead those responsible for fixing the date have remained adamant as if we do not have any serious business ahead of us.”

Mr Sampana said as a result of the delay, the attempt to campaign vigorously to retain the seat is being hampered adding “some of the pooling station chairpersons are even threatening not to take part in the effort to get the youth registered when the voters register opens”.

“We want the primary held immediately so that we can have enough time to campaign vigorously.”

When contacted, Irene Naa Torshie Addo said the delay in holding the primary principles of the NPP.”

“A petition against me which the executives claimed was accounting for the delay in holding the primary has been dismissed as frivolous and unmeritorious and Mr Peter Mac Manu, our National Chairman has since said there is going to be primary in Tema West.”

She said “When I ask for the date for primary, Mr Mac Manu told me that my contender is leading a parliamentary delegation to Malaysia for 10 days but this does not stop the executives from fixing a date for the primary.”

She said there were other constituencies where candidates were selected in absentia, citing Dome Kwabenya where Prof. Mike Ocquaye won the contest in the absence of Ajoa Safo, daughter of Apostle Kwadwo Safo of Christo Asafo.

“We will wait for my contender to come back from his trip but a date must be fixed so that we all know our fate”, saying “if all others had dates for primaries, why are they hiding it from Tema West.”

“The executives are being unfair to me. They are making things appear as if they are on the side of one the contenders, but the constitution of the NPP is superior than any member in the party.”

When contacted on telephone, Mr. Osei-Addo dismissed the delegation that the party executives are favouring, saying “I do not fix dates for primaries to be held.”