Confusion & Bribery In Cape Coast NPP

``ALAN`S KALAMARI CHIEF IN CAPE COAST MESS
`'Congress aborted 2x,
`´Buckman pledges 10 votes for Alan.
´´Hell’s Angels descend on Hans Cottage

Mr. Edwin Godwin Buckman The long arm of Mr. Alan Kyerematen, the golden boy of President Kufuor was every where in evidence when the commander-in-chief of his Kalamari Network, Mr. Jojo Fosu, 62, was rebuffed when a pair of executives of the Cape Coast constituency tried to smuggle Mr. Fosu’s name into the list of delegates, generating a huge row that ended the conference prematurely.

Messrs Frank Hutchful, a businessman and Gordon Edwin Buckman, an unemployed graduate, schemed to ride over the polling station chairmen and women, ensuring the removal of Hajia Memuna Tanko, an Akufo Addo loyalist, the sole women’s organiser from the list of delegates and packed them with pro-Alan delegates who had been greased with c3 million each to vote for Alan.

“We all collected the money,” admitted Mr. Biney, the constituency treasurer, “but we are not pro-Alan, but studying the candidates.”

The story was different with the youth organiser, who according to the party’s constitution is not eligible for selection unlike the four recognised executives, but surprisingly, it was he who sent the fatal text.

“I know u’re happy b’cos of wot Alhaji did... We were going to beat u 10 nil despite ur secret meeting which we have on tape. I assure u 10 votes for Alan in C/Coast’, Mr. Buckman, bragged in a text message sent to Mr. Kofi Coomson, a local boy and opinion leader of the town. Another attempt yesterday to rush through a delegates conference hit a snafu when the regional treasurer Mrs. Yeboah, hurriedly swore in a five-man team, representing the executives, plus 34 polling station chairmen, less than a third of the number required by the party’s constitution. Just as they were being sworn in, a leader of the team of ‘Hell’s Angels’ appeared at Hans Cottage, the venue of the conference, along with her platoon of commanders, and made for Mrs. Yeboah’s list she was carrying and tore it into shreds.

Pandemonium broke out as the mostly female corps of party activists hurled insults and catcalls at Messrs Buckman, and Hutchful, as they fled to celebrate their phyrric victory at the house of Hutchful, pursued by the advancing Angels.

Regional party boss Mr. Bootie Danquah Smith spoke on Radio Valco yesterday, explaining the events of the day. The constituency treasurer who was not invited to the congress spoke on air denouncing the selected election as a sham. Neither the second Vice Chairman Mr. Cann, the constituency secretary Mr. Murtala and the women’s organiser, Hajia Memuna were invited, only Hutchful.

Yesterday’s incident preceded last Saturday’s congress which also ended in a fiasco. Mr. Hutchful and Buckman then accused Kofi Coomson of holding a ‘secret meeting with constituency chairmen and distributing GHC5 to them to come and cause confusion’. In an interview Coomson confirmed the report but underlined that the motive of the meeting held at Mudec Hotel was to educate the constituents of their rights under the party’s constitution, which placed supreme power in the hands of the polling station chairmen.

It was not to foment trouble as Messrs Hutchful, 56 and Buckman, 32, an unemployed graduate are alleging. I dare them to play the tape which they say they have, and confirm whether they have not taken money or not to sell Cape Coast to the highest bidder. I am from Cape and they will have to do the lawful thing else they will have to contend with me. I cannot go to Ho or Kumasi and do what I did but they know my house and where my family home is. I have a locus to fight for the rights of my people’.

For Buckman who was the architect of the ‘skirt and blouse’ concept into Ghanaian politics, he has followed his Master Oguaa Koto in a money-grabbing extravangaza. Hutchful is the beneficiary of a Goil fuel station’s forced sale, then belonging to the late Mr. Kwesi Brew, who fell on bad times before he died last month at the age of 76.. LAST SATURDAY The genesis of the trouble started at the conference for the December 22 national delegates’ congress of the party in Accra. It was expected to start at 10.00 but dragged to 11.30 am at Sanaa Lodge in Cape Coast and was characterized by a misunderstanding between the executives and polling station chairmen, who had converged there to elect 10 delegates to represent all of the Cape Coast New Patriotic Party supporters. The Constituency Secretary, Murtala Mohammed, read the constitution of the NPP and explained the guidelines for the selection of the delegates.

Then, the Cape Coast NPP youth organizer, Godwin Edwin Buckman, mentioned six names they had listed to be voted for as delegates besides the four executive members. This did not go well with some of the polling station chairmen who were led by Seth Abban, on the grounds that the executives did not consult them before nominating those people. Before then, the polling station chairmen were taken to the house of one George Nana Hammond, where Jojo Fosu, was lodging to convince them to allow him to be part of the delegates. Nana later said that he was oblivious to the political scheming that Jojo was running in his house as Hutchful was told the chairmen that Jojo had contributed c750 million to Alan’s war chest and they will be amply rewarded if they allowed him in as a delegate. But the congress rejected outright the quest to smuggle in Jojo Fosu, who stays in Achimota, Accra and alleged to have cast his vote in the Eastern Region, to become a member of the 10 delegates to represent Cape Coast at the national level.

The Cape Coast Constituency Chairman, Frank Hutchful first led the polling station chairmen to the house of Nana Hammond, which is opposite Sanaa Lodge, the venue for the election of delegates. He again led them back to Sanaa Lodge, where Alhaji Jibrine, the NPP Central Regional Organizer, who was dispatched to supervise the election, had arrived. Jibrine’s suggestion to the executives to allow the Cape Coast MP to be part of the six non-executive members was over-ruled by Buckman, with the argument that Jibrine was to supervise the election but not to dictate to them.

This was after pandemonium had set in when the list released by the executives was vehemently rejected with the exception of Ms. Mercy Arhin, Cape Coast Metropolitan Chief Executive, whose nomination was approved by the delegates. When the polling station chairmen suggested that the remaining five non-executives be selected from them, a list of 26 was quickly compiled. But the election was thrown out of gear, when the chairmen realized that the names of those rejected five nominated by the executives had been included and were being mentioned in that chronological order, prompting them that it was a ploy to re-elect the same people. They also opposed the list for not ensuring gender balance. For instance, Nana Ama Amissah, whose name came before Richard Ansah, one of the favourites of the executive, was by-passed for another person, which angered the chairmen the more.

The confusion prevented the executives from introducing Dr. Kobina Arthur Kennedy, the only NPP presidential aspirant from the Central Region, to the polling station chairmen. He had to calm tempers down to prevent more fighting among dissatisfied polling station chairmen, who were at each other’s throats.

Out of 106 chairmen, 58 came and formed the quorum for the election. Alhaji Jibrine, who then could not stand the confusion and hot verbal exchanges, quickly left the conference hall for his vehicle and sped off to Kasoa, where he had a national assignment. This was after pointing out to them that he had another assignment and needed cooperation to ensure the smooth running of the election. In an interview with him later, he expressed disappointment at the behaviour of the chairmen and said that he was going to consult his regional chairman, Bootey Danquah Smith, for a new date to conduct the election. He reminded the chairmen and the executives that the national delegate’s congress of the NPP can be held without the Cape Coast Constituency and that they needed only a third of the total number of national delegates to elect a presidential candidate. He said what happened at Sanaa Lodge indicated that Cape Coast was not ready to elect delegates and urged them to do their homework well to forestall any future occurrence.

The Cape Coast Constituency is becoming notorious for rows over the selection of delegates after the constituency missed the chance of taking part in the 2005 NPP Central Regional Delegates Congress at the University of Cape Coast Auditorium owing to misunderstanding among party members. There was pressure yesterday on the executives of the party to suspend Mr. Buckman for the highly prejudicial text message which was dispatched to Bootie Danquah Smith and to the Regional Secretary, Mr. Kwamena Duncan.