Confusion at NPP Press Conference

Tema, Jan 25, GNA - Confusion broke out at a news conference held in Tema on Friday by a group calling itself "Grassroots Caucus of NPP" in the Tema East constituency of the Party, after its secretary, Mr Charles Boateng disrupted it.

The conference was organised by Mr Alex Jones Afesi, General Secretary of the Caucus to enable members register their protest against a decision by the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP), Mr Ishamel Ashietey, to seek re-election for the fourth time. Just before the programme started, Mr Boateng addressed the members, saying that the intended conference was illegal because the organizers failed to seek permission from constituency executives of the Party.

Mr Boateng, who claimed he had no prior knowledge of the conference, said any party member had the right to hold programmes, "as long as the executives were informed and also if the programme would not create anarchy and chaos to infringe on the tenets of the party". Soon after he completed his speech, Mr Afesi reacted saying that he was a registered member of the NPP and that gave him the right to hold a programme to express their concerns on the party at the constituency level.

He displayed his party membership card to prove his claim as a loyal member of the NPP, but it was snatched from him by some other members who, said the card had expired.

In the ensuing confusion, those accompanying Mr Boateng attempted to snatch the camera from a TV3 journalist, Mr Kingsley Edusei Amakye, but his colleagues intervened to save the situation and the programme ended abruptly.

However, a statement made available to newsmen by the Caucus levelled allegations against the MP. They accused him of dividing the rank and file at the constituency level and not being accountable to the members.

The group also claimed that a survey conducted in the constituency indicated that "90 percent of the constituents have vowed not to vote for Mr Ashitey if he stood."

In an interview with the GNA on January 14 to declare his intention to contest the seat for the fourth time, Mr Ashitey said he was confident of winning the seat because opinion polls favoured him. The MP said he had undertaken a lot of projects from his share of the MPs' Common Fund and mentioned some of them as the Youth Training Centre, Post Office, places of convenience, rehabilitation of schools, canteens and the provision of dual desks for a number of schools. 25 Jan 08