Afoko, Agyepong must step aside

PAUL AFOKO AND KWABENA AGYEPONG MUST STEP ASIDE

One thing all NPP members and sympathisers must understand is that the various Regional Executive Committee meetings that are currently ongoing does not constitute an impeachment of National Chairman, Paul Afoko and General Secretary, Kwabena Agyepong. The mode of impeaching an elected officer of the party is clearly spelt out in Article 10 of the NPP's amended constitution of 2009.

The message from these REC meetings is fairly simple – "We have lost confidence in the ability of Paul Afoko and Kwabena Agyepong to run this party and we are asking them to step aside." This message is coming from every 'constituency' in this party, from the polling station level, the constituency executives who elected the duo in 9 out of 10 regions, the Regional Executives, the Council of Elders and, finally, NPP Members of Parliament.

If the entire NPP constituency has passed a vote-of-no-confidence in you, who then will Paul Afoko and Kwabena Agyepong be working with? Over 95% of all elected officers have indicated that they cannot work with them. The pair cannot even go to their offices at the Party headquarters. They are not wanted in the regions, neither are they wanted at the headquarters. Where then or with whom will they be working with if they still decide to remain in office?

Again, a closer look at the charge sheet prepared by the Police, which was presented in Court, links the murder of Adams Mahama, which took place on 21st May 2015, to the presence of Paul Afoko and Kwabena Agyepong in Bolgatanga on the 14th of May, 2015 and the unfortunate incident that took place on Bolgatanga on the 14th of May, 2015.

According to the Police, Gregory Afoko, brother of Mr. Paul Afoko was not impressed with the action taken by the regional chairman (Adams Mahama) on 14th May, and as a result had serious confrontations with the deceased until he was chased away by the thugs. Later Gregory, together with Asabke, who's currently on the run, mobilized some youth to form another group with the sole aim to protect party executives, namely Paul Afoko and Kwabena Agyepong, perceived to be against Nana Akufo-Addo's bid. The suspects and other members had a series of meetings and in the evening of 20th May 2015, Gregory and Asabke, armed with a substance in a gallon suspected to be acid, laid ambush at the deceased's residence, and poured it on him resulting in the death of Adams Mahama.

This is murder we are talking about and this is the account from investigations carried out by the Police and presented in open Court, and none other than Paul Afoko and Kwabena Agyepong, the "Executive Chairman" and the "CEO" respectively of the party are at the centre of it all.

No one is accusing the Chairman or the General Secretary of complicity in the murder of Adams Mahama. The party cannot be drawn into this matter every time the name of Gregory Afoko is mentioned. The NPP simply must be insulated from this.

If Paul Afoko and Kwabena Agyapong truly love the NPP, they should spare us all this trauma and simply step aside until the resolution of this heinous crime, so their party they claim they love can move forward.

The NPP has an election to win, we cannot be saddled with this baggage. Paul Afoko and Kwabena Agyepong must understand this and act in the best interest of the NPP.

Kwesi Hamilton

NPP Member

Cape Coast South Constituency