It is official! The largest opposition party in Ghana, the New Patriotic
Party (NPP,) is broke and it is becoming difficult to gather the needed
logistics for campaign in 2016.
The level of poverty that is enveloping the Elephant (which is the
emblem of NPP,) fraternity Today gathers, is so severe that any elected
presidential hopeful would find it difficult to campaign effectively,
let alone win power as vehicles to be used on the campaign trail are
missing.
A hundred and fifty (150) Pick-ups, forty (40) SUVS and ten (10) salon
cars, all used during the 2012 campaign, the paper gathered, are
missing.
The paper’s source at the party’s headquarters revealed that at the
first National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the new executives,
it emerged that all the vehicles for the party’s 2012 campaign were
bought and registered in the name of a private holding company even
though the bills were sent to the party for settlement.
The source and other insiders in the party all point accusing fingers
at the office of the 2012 flag-bearer of the party, Nana Addo Dankwa
Akufo-Addo, whom they claimed managed the assets of the party abysmally,
making the NPP run into debts amounting to several millions of Ghana
cedis.
“What is worse is the fact that the new executives of the party did not
inherit even a push truck from the old executives….,” our source said.
The source’s fear is corroborated by evidence to the effect that the
Afoko-led executive was hardly handed any detailed report on the state
of the party with a half-page report read by former treasurer, Mrs.
Esther Ofori.
She could however not be blamed for not offering a better report, as
she hardly received any money or disbursed any money during the
campaign.
“All traffic flowed in the direction of the flag-bearer’s camp and that
we were virtually redundant as party executives,” a member of the old
executive was quoted as saying during a meeting with the new ones.
Thus, attributing the gross mismanagement to Nana Addo’s office which
the source said relegated to the background, the formal structures of
the party during the 2012 electioneering campaign.
Nana Addo’s office is alleged to have received campaign funds and expended the same on behalf of the party.
When contacted, a member of the previous administration and former
General Secretary, Lawyer Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, refused to comment on
the issue and instead referred the paper to the current general
secretary, Mr. Kwabena Agyei Agyapong.
However, Mr. Agyapong’s phone was off and a text message sent to him in
regard to the story had not been answered to as of press time.
Our source indicated that it was not surprising that Nana Addo who was
at the meeting reportedly advised the new executives to meet with two of
his cousins to sort out the matter (of the missing cars).
Surprisingly, there is enormous pressure on the new executives to open
nominations for the flag-bearership position ostensibly as a ploy to
shift the power base of the party to the flag-bearer’s camp.
This is despite the fact that the party is yet to reconstitute its NEC
which is mandated by the party’s constitution to give national
executives orders to start the process of choosing the next flag-bearer.
The national executives further argue that in view of the EC’s decision
to start the registration exercise this June, if nominations of the
flag-bearership are opened now, it will distract party officials from
focusing on the voters register.
Be it as it may, a former national executive member has advised the
national executives to do what they can as “you have only six months to
do what you want to do.”
“After that when the flag-bearer is elected, everything will go to his
camp and you will have nothing to do,” the former national executive
member continued.
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Source;ghanaweb
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