E/R NPP in Turmoil

• Appiah ‘Stadium’ inflames it for Nana Addo
• Ineffective regional chairman gone AWOL
The foundation of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) that was laid in the Eastern Region is currently shaking, generating shivers down the spines of many party supporters.

The Chronicle gathered during a stake-out of political parties, beginning with the NPP, that as the leadership of the party there appears to be rudderless and sympathizers are beginning to entertain tangible fears that unless something concrete were done, they could be overrun in an election.

As many as four presidential candidates, Hon. Hackman Owusu Agyeman, Hon Yaw Osafo Maafo, Mr. Boakye Agyarko and Nana Akufo Addo, all come from this region, yet there is deep haemorrhaging from this crucial region, which has consistently posted massive numbers for the party.

When this paper toured constituencies, districts and some wards in the region recently, reactions and comments from party faithfuls centered on internal wrangling within the constituencies, and despondence among the rank and file.

Yet, the reactions from ‘big men’ in Accra have consistently preferred papering over the cracks and painting rosy pictures.

There was not a single ward or constituency, experiencing peace. Complaints of unfair treatment among foot soldiers were rife.

As The Chronicle reported recently, even in Abuakwa South, which is the constituency of one of the well-known NPP presidential aspirants, party elders are in open revolt against Akufo Addo primarily over his common fund and the arrogance of his special assistant, Yaw Amfo Kwakye, whose has quite a reputation in Accra.

Amfo Kwakye tried unsuccessfully to meddle in the constituency dispute by imposing matters over the constituents, but was quickly chased out.

He is currently comfortably ensconced at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, trailing Nana Addo around while Abuakwa burns in the absence of the Minister, who hardly has time to attend to home issues.

Revelations made by the noted serial-caller, Appiah Stadium, have not helped matters either for Nana Akufo Addo as he is said to have used an official letter head to facilitate a visa for the ‘illiterate watchman’, who describes himself as “a leading politician”.

Some of the party members who spoke to the paper expressed disappointment over the failure of the party in the region, headed by Mr. Yaw Gyekyi Amoabeng, to hold the fort after the previous regional executives were swept away in regional elections that were infiltrated, according to insiders, by the Chief of Staff, resulting in the victory of Mr. Amoabeng.

''Currently, what is happening to the NPP is like American forces entering the stronghold of a rebel group, dismantling its dangerous weapons, and rounding up the rebels and installing their systems,'' one staunch party member observed.

With much anger written on his face and that of others, another member remarked, ''Comparatively, the old regional executives we were made to believe were bad, were even performing better than the present executives’’.

One foot soldier wondered aloud whether “the regional chairman was an NDC affiliate and had been successfully planted on us to come and weaken our party for the NDC to defeat us?”

Some of the regional executives (names withheld for security reasons) whom The Chronicle managed to speak to also complained about the way the party systems have relaxed under the administration of the current chairman, who is always difficult to get in touch with and talked to about party matters.

They were worried that the good relationship the party established with the press in the Eastern Region has been strained by the current regional executive’s failure to reach out to members and the general public to know why the party is allowing the NDC to engage freely in extensive demoralizing propaganda.

As The Chronicle can report, for the over two months this reporter tried to contact Mr. Amoabeng, the only response gotten is the automated Areeba response saying the called party is unavailable.

Other party sources said Mr. Amoabeng, who is a contractor, has been away in Accra chasing contracts to meet some of the challenges related to his undertakings.