Scores of aggrieved members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) stormed the party’s Western Regional Office in Takoradi on May 10 over alleged manipulation of the constituency’s electoral roll ahead of upcoming branch and polling station executive elections.
The members, numbering over one hundred, accused some constituency executives of deliberately removing names of persons perceived not to be aligned with their preferred candidates in what they describe as an attempt to influence the outcome of the internal elections.
The angry party supporters, who had earlier petitioned the national leadership of the party over the matter, said although the issue had been referred to the regional office for resolution, they had waited for weeks without any response.
Their decision to besiege the regional office on Sunday underscored what many of them described as growing mistrust and division within the constituency’s party front.
“We don’t want any vetting. All we are saying is that anyone who has expressed interest in contesting should be allowed to contest. What is happening is going to affect the unity of the party in Tarkwa. All the constituency executives are on one side and have selected their favorites and therefore have eliminated the names of persons they perceive as not supporting them,” some of the aggrieved members alleged.
The development is the latest sign of simmering tension within the constituency as the NPP prepares to reorganise its grassroots base following the 2024 general elections defeat and ahead of future electoral contests.
The situation appears to have been further inflamed by recent comments by former Tarkwa-Nsuaem MP, George Mireku Duker, during a radio interview on the branch executive elections, with some of the aggrieved members claiming the process is gradually being turned into a loyalty contest.
However, some members of the party’s regional elections committee expressed surprise over the protest, insisting that the concerns raised by the group were already under investigation.
“We do not have any interest in who becomes what in Tarkwa. We think that decision entirely rests with the people who will vote,” an official of the committee who declined to be named told ConnectNews.
Later interviews by ConnectNews among the members who had massed up at the regional office, however, revealed inconsistencies in the claims surrounding the protest. Although some members confirmed that certain names were indeed missing from the electoral roll, the figures of 3,000 and later 800 persons reportedly expected at the regional office could not be independently verified.
Interviews with some of the individuals gathered at the premises also suggested that not all of them were directly involved in the petition or intended to contest in the elections.
“I had a call from my coordinator saying that the party had been sued. He told me my name was among the petitioners and so I should come to Takoradi. But I am not part of any petition. Ask around; a number of them are not petitioners or even know what is actually going on,” one member alleged.
The party is yet to officially comment on the matter.
By Abraham Mensah
