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The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) is all set to begin the election of new executives to fill up various positions at the constituency level.
The 2022 Constituency Annual Delegates Conference which begins today, April 28, 2022 is expected to end on Monday, May 2 across the 250 constituencies that have been given the green light to hold the elections.
Each constituency is expected to choose a suitable date within the given period to conduct the conference and hold the elections under the supervision of the Electoral Commission of Ghana, per the Party’s rules and regulations.
A statement signed by the General Secretary, John Boadu, noted that the elections would take place as communicated, despite the statutory May Day and Eid-ul-Fitr holidays.
Positions to contest
The positions available to be contested for include Constituency Chairperson, First Constituency Vice-Chairperson, Second Constituency Vice-Chairperson, Constituency Secretary, Constituency Assistant Secretary and Constituency Treasurer.
Other include Constituency Organiser, Constituency Women Organiser, Constituency Youth Organiser and Constituency NASARA Coordinator.
Who can vote?
Per Article 7(27) of the Party’s Constitution, delegates of the constituency conference comprise members of the Constituency Executive Committee, all Electoral Area Coordinators and all five Polling Station Executives from all the polling stations in the constituency.
Also, five members of the Constituency Council of Elders, five members of the Constituency Council of Patrons and any NPP Founding Member can attend and partake in the congress.
At least one-third of the delegates from the constituency shall be necessary to constitute a quorum for the conference.
Flashpoints
About 25 constituencies cannot partake in the elections, following petitions and court cases levelled against the party by some aggrieved members.
Already, some flashpoints have been identified in the Dome-Kwabenya and Ododiodioo and other two constituencies.
In the case of Dome-Kwabenya, some executives have accused the various executives of working against supporters of the absentee Member of Parliament, Sarah Adwoa Sarfo.
According to the Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the NPP, Divine Agorhom, the Party has engaged the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to beef up security in these areas during the elections.
“We’ve engaged him [the IGP]. He will be detailing his men to provide security. They have just a few flashpoints for which they would have to beef up on the numbers. Ordinarily, I would have said that the Police Command in the districts should be enough for this except for areas whereas I said earlier we consider flashpoints.
“So far they [the flashpoint constituencies] are just about four; you know we have quite a volatile situation at Odododiodioo also Dome Kwabenya you know the situation there. I think these two we can put on air, the rest we don’t want they themselves to even know we consider their constituencies as flashpoints,” he said.
“One can say it is a family affair, we don’t expect that misunderstanding or disagreements can escalate into something that would need external security intervention.”
Meanwhile, the party’s Director of Elections, Evans Nimako has cautioned delegates against the use of means that contradicts the party’s internal mechanisms.
“We are at the point where at this stage, we are not going to entertain anything untoward from any of the stakeholders. We, therefore, insist that elections committee will collaborate very well with the EC and get the elections done when the time is due.
“We are not going to entertain proxy voting. We’ve mandated the Constituency Elections Committee to exhibit the register at the constituency secretariat. If there are any issues, they must be forwarded to the appropriate office for redress,” he told JoyNews.
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