Don't Vote For Botwe, Osafo Maafo, Apraku ...

... ¢10m "gift" to influence vote
Kumasi (Chronicle) - Many thought His Excellency, President J. A. Kufuor could stay glued to the public neutrality he had demonstrated so far in the race for the presidential ticket of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP). But that seeming neutrality was compromised last Friday when the President told Constituency Executives of the party in the Ashanti Region not to vote for any of those aspirants who he had dismissed as ministers of state.

The former Ministers, who perhaps might be affected by the ‘presidential order’ are Mr. Yaw Osafo Maafo, Former Finance Minister and later, Education Science and Sports Minister and the MP for Akim-Oda; Mr. Dan Kwaku Botwe, former Minister of Information and two-term General Secretary of the party; Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku, former Minister of Regional Integration and NEPAD and MP for Offinso-North, and Capt. Nkrabeah Effah-Dartey (Rtd), former Deputy Minister of Interior and MP for Berekum.

President Kufuor gave the advice to the delegates at a top secret meeting to coach delegates in the Ashanti Region ahead of the ruling NPP’s delegates’ congress slated for the latter part of this year to elect a flagbearer of the party for the 2008 polls.

The meeting, which was held at the residency of the Ashanti Regional Minister, amidst tight security at about 11:30 a.m., featured ten representatives from each of the 39 Constituencies in the Region. The media and non-delegates of the party were barred from taking part in that meeting, which lasted for almost two hours, even though some party members protested against the move.

Before the meeting could come to a close, the President’s secret plan of spinning for and against some aspirants of the NPP for the flagbearership slot was flying in the air. At the meeting, The Chronicle gathered that each constituency was rewarded with ¢10 million as a gift from the President of the Republic after being told to vote in a certain direction, an action political analysts consider to be a replica of Ex-President Rawlings’ behaviour when he was in power.

Sources said President Kufuor charged the delegates not to vote for any aspirants who were part of his government but were booted out.

According to him, this is because, they could not earn his trust after being given ministerial positions, since they only used those positions to their own advantage instead of seeking the welfare of Ghana as a whole.

In the view of President Kufuor, those ex-ministers of State – even though qualify to occupy the presidency – should not be allowed to become as such. The President, who did not engage in name-dropping and chose to cast insinuations, allegedly stated that those presidential aspirants were only interested in their self advancement, contrary to what they preach to delegates of the party throughout the country.

He therefore warned and directed the 390 delegates to give their votes to someone who will pay heed to advice and let him (Kufuor) have his peace of mind after retirement on January 7, 2009.

Obviously, some NPP members who were denied access to the meeting grounds, are now fuming with rage. They believe the action has damning implications on the unity of the party ahead of the national delegates’ congress to elect a presidential candidate for the NPP

Former Ashanti Regional Secretary, Mr. Patrick Acheampong, complained in a fit of anger when he spoke to the morning-show host of Nkosuo Radio, Mr. Fred Asamoah yesterday. He also confirmed this paper’s story about the meeting during the interview, including the monetary enticement of the President; his directive not to vote for a section of the aspirants of the NPP and a stern warning not to disobey him.

Ex-First Vice Chairman of the party in Ashanti, Mr. Kwame Adjei, also corroborated the story but indicated his unwillingness to discuss details of the meeting on air.

He confirmed also that non-delegates of the party and journalists who trooped there to cover proceedings were all prevented from taking part in the President’s secret meeting.

The Chronicle intelligence gathered from the Central and Western regions reports that the President met party executives and DCEs and had a fireside chat with them behind closed doors.

Analysts see the potential of grave consequences for the party as such an adversarial stance taken by the President against some aspirants can create deep-seated factionalism within the party. Chronicle