Former Member of Parliament (MP) Mr. Kofi Poku-Adusei’s decision to contest the parliamentary primary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Asante-Bekwai Constituency has led to growing unease, resentment and anger among party’s supporters.
A group within the party, “Nana Addo for President (NAFOP)” and some youth from the Bekwai Zongo had petitioned the constituency executives to discourage him from attempting to take another shot at the constituency seat.
They warned that they would not accept a repeat of the confusion and bitterness that surrounded the party’s 2008 primaries.
The narrow victory handed over to Mr. Poku-Adusei by the delegates created so much heat and discord, leading to his main challenger, Mr. Joe Osei-Wusu contesting the poll as independent candidate in that election.
The Ofoase-Kokoben branch of the NAFOP in a petition signed by Vincent Kyei Attobrah, the Chairman, said the party could not afford to take any gamble in the December elections.
He said the party executives and delegates should be careful and avoid any mistakes likely to fuel voter apathy and significantly reduce the NPP’s Presidential Candidate’s share of votes in the polls.
The group insisted that Mr. Poku-Adusei’s candidature would not be helpful to the NPP’s electoral fortunes, because he was unpopular with majority of the people in the area.
“He is not the choice of majority of the voters and that accounted for his defeat in 2008.”
They wondered what might have changed to give him the confidence that he could this time round secure the mandate of the people.
The reality on the ground, the group claimed showed that the incumbent MP, Mr. Osei-Wusu, was popular with the people because of his immense contribution to the creation of jobs, support for brilliant but needy students and the tremendous progress he had brought to the constituency, the group added.**
