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General News of Monday, 16 June 2008

Source: GNA

Calls for fresh primary in Tain Constituency

Tain (B/A), June 16, GNA - Tain Constituency polling station chairmen of the New Patriotic Party, on Monday called on the national executives of the party to conduct proper primary that would be transparent, free and fair.

In a resolution to the national chairman of NPP and copied to the Brong Ahafo Regional chairman of the party, the polling station chairmen said, such a move would help resolve a "major controversy" in the constituency at present.

Signed by five Zonal polling station chairmen, the resolution said, they would advise themselves if the national executives failed to heed to their request.

The zonal chairmen described as a mockery of democracy, the action of Mr. Kofi Darko, Brong-Ahafo Regional Organiser of the party who was said to have led a team to organise the primaries in Constituency, which the incumbent MP, Mr Joe Danquah was acclaimed the parliamentary candidate on June 4, this month.

"We totally reject the incumbent MP as our parliamentary candidate due to the dubious manner in which he was chosen," it said.

The resolution said: "We are indeed worried by the happenings in the constituency in the ranks of the NPP" and warned that the earlier a prompt solution was found to the controversies that surrounded primaries, the better it would be for the fortunes of the party.

"We did not receive any response to an earlier petition nor was any attempt made to resolve the controversy complained about and the patience and that of a lot of many supporters and sympathizers of the party is running out", the resolution added.

Meanwhile, Mr. Kofi Darko, Regional Organizer said, one aspiring candidate, Mr. Richard Obour, a lecturer at the Sunyani campus of the Kwame Nkrumah University of science and technology was disqualified at the vetting process.

He said Mr Obour was disqualified because as demanded in the party's constitution, he had not nurtured the party in the constituency for at least two years.

Mr Obuor, who later filed an injunction at a Sunyani High Court to annul the acclamation of the incumbent MP, had his case dismissed.