A group calling itself Concerned Patriots of Ahafo Ano North Constituency says the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is losing its grip on the constituency due to irregularities in the conduct of polling station elections, following a court injunction placed on all processes to elect subsequent party officers.
The group says until elections in the outstanding 23 polling stations are lawfully conducted, it will fight to halt all subsequent elections.
An electoral area communications officer, Ayisi Asare Awuah, said the decision to seek redress in court has become necessary because all party mechanisms to resolve the matter have proven futile.
The aggrieved members are asking the court to declare the failure to conduct elections in the outstanding 23 out of 139 polling stations unlawful and unjustified.
They are also seeking a directive for the polling station elections to be conducted before any subsequent constituency elections.
Additionally, they are calling for the removal of the representative of the regional executives overseeing the elections, and an order that the elections be conducted in accordance with party regulations.
According to the group, some persons affected by the alleged disregard for the party’s electoral regulations have defected to other political groupings.
They believe such developments could affect the party’s fortunes in future elections in the constituency.
The NPP Member of Parliament for the area, Eric Nana Agyemang-Prempeh, won the seat by about 120 votes, a result that was contested by the NDC parliamentary aspirant, Kwasi Adusei.
At a press conference, the group indicated that some guidelines for the conduct of the elections were breached, from the release of nomination forms through to the conduct of the elections.
They accused the constituency executives and the representative of the regional executives of ignoring the vetting process and the notice of poll.
According to the group, the anomalies were reported to the elections committee but were ignored.
“They ignored us when we drew their attention, but we thought it was just because the process was still early,” Ayisi Asare Awuah told Joy News.
He further alleged that the register used for the elections in some areas was falsified to favour certain individuals.
“Some persons were bused from a different constituency to participate in our elections. They moved to various polling stations to choose our leaders for us,” he claimed.
According to the Concerned Ahafo Patriots, attempts by some party members to resist the irregularities led to disturbances, resulting in injuries.
Vehicles belonging to some party members were also damaged, a matter which has been reported to the police.
A petition submitted to the constituency, regional and national executives of the party is yet to receive any response.
Source: adomonline.com
