Afoko floored at NPP council meeting

An attempt by the National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Paul Afoko and his General Secretary, Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, to have the party’s National Council – the highest decision-making body after delegates’ congress – reconstituted was yesterday met with stiff opposition.

Since he assumed office as the National Chairman of the largest opposition party, Mr. Afoko has been raising issues with the current composition of the body, with the aim of having its membership reconstituted, ostensibly to allow him to ‘smuggle’ in his allies.

He had always argued that the constitution of the Council was not proper because representatives from seven out of the 10 regions are in it, adding that the body could not take any decision for the entire party.

But when the issue came up at the Council meeting yesterday, Afoko’s position was defeated. The meeting was meant to take a decision on the date and guidelines for the party’s upcoming flagbearership contest.

The debate was said to have dragged on for almost two hours.

The NPP’s Constitution provides that the National Council only needs one-third of its members present at any given meeting to form a quorum.

When it was put to a vote, majority were said to have agreed that the body as it currently is, was properly constituted and could take decisions for the party.

Mr. Afoko’s position was, therefore, said to have been interpreted by some members of the National Council to mean that the Tamale Conference that elected him and his other national officers was not proper since the chosen regional representatives also voted during that election – sort of challenging his own legitimacy.

Sources close to the party told DAILY GUIDE that Afoko’s intransigence became a source of bother for many, compelling Minority Leader in Parliament, Osei-Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, to rise up to tell him in the face that he was creating a crisis in the party.

As the Chairman persisted, the twice presidential candidate of the NPP, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, was said to have challenged him on points of law, principle, convention and standard practice in the party.

Many were said to have sided with his argument, thereby earning him a standing ovation. He therefore moved for the meeting to proceed for the technicalities to be dealt with later.

But Afoko came back fighting.

Mr. Afoko was said to have stormed out of a similar Steering Committee meeting in anger a few days ago when he was stampeded by his other colleague national officers as he tried to impose his will on them.

The party’s Constitution provides that the General Secretary must open nominations two years before general (national) elections.

Kwabena Agyepong was therefore asked yesterday to set the date for a national delegates congress, but was shot down because the National Council had not fixed a date for the opening of nominations and filing of nomination forms.

The meeting ended in a deadlock with no concrete date set for the congress to elect a flagbearer to lead the party to the 2016 general elections because some members wanted it latest by October while the Chairman and his Secretary preferred December 6.

It was however decided that the National Council meet on June 19, 2014, to decide on a date for congress.