Special Delegates Conference: Kwamena Duncan 'fights' NPP over decision to select five candidates

Former Central Regional Minister and a staunch member of the New Patriotic Party(NPP), Kwamena Duncan has strongly dissented to a decision by the party's elections Committee to ensure five candidates compete in their main congress even if voting after their Super Delegates Congress ends up with less number than the expected five.

The NPP will hold a Super Delegates Congress on Saturday, August 26, to trim the number of presidential aspirants from ten to five with the five going into their main congress scheduled for November 4 to elect a flagbearer.

However, there is the tendency for the Super Delegates Congress to end up with less than five candidates.

In view of this, the elections Committee is said to have established that the aspirants with less votes will be added to reach five to contest the main presidential race in the event where the Super Delegates Congress results in less number.

But Kwamena Duncan feels this decision is at variance with the party's constitution.

He explained on Peace FM's morning show "Kokrokoo" that the NPP constitution makes provision for a maximum cut of candidates to contest the main elections but doesn't bind the party to find five candidates no matter the outcome of the Super Delegates Congress.

He noted five candidates "is the maximum the provision is giving you. It doesn't mean that necessarily you must get the five...Once it's to be pruned to five, it means that is the maximum we are able to contain but it doesn't mean necessarily to go to the next year, you must present five".

To him, he cannot understand why the party's leadership wants five candidates by all means and wondered "maybe this (decision) was procured out of some ransom".

"This provision you have stipulated, isn't it a reversal of the decision that you took?...How was this arrived at? How? How?", Kwamena Duncan fumed.

He asked the National Executive Council to follow the constitutional principles of the party saying, "National Council says that every delegate is entitled to one vote...If it turns out that even one person is voted for, the constitution says that...where there is only one contestant, you go to acclaim" and asked "what is your worry even if there was one?"