The New Patriotic Party electoral area coordinators within the Asokwa constituency of the Ashanti Region are calling on the party’s constituency chairman to render an unqualified apology to them and their newly elected General Secretary for making some “unsavoury comments” ahead of the party’s national conference.
According to all the 14 electoral coordinators, the singular act of the Asokwa constituency chairman to declare the Constituency’s support for John Boadu rather than a member of the Constituency, Justin Frimpong Kodua, constitutes a betrayal of a sort.
They say this goes contrary to the unanimous decision they made to support Justin Kodua Frimpong.
Speaking at a news conference in Kumasi, the spokesperson for the group, Kwame Wiafe Akenten, who is also the Kuwait Aprabon NPP coordinator noted that the apology from the constituency chairman, Fosu Nkromah will help calm matters within the Constituency.
“We, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) electoral area coordinators in the Asokwa Constituency by this release want to urge our Chairman, Rev Benjamin Fosu Nkromah to render an unqualified apology to the newly elected General Secretary of our party, Justin Frimpong Kodua Esq.”
“This has become necessary due to some unsavoury comments he passed on the latter before the 16th July national conference. We also demand same apology from our Chairman as a constituency for breaking our trust despite the agreement we had with him to campaign and vote for our preferred person as General Secretary of the party”.
Read the full press statement below:
25TH JULY, 2022.
PRESS CONFERENCE PRESS CONFERENCE.
STATEMENT:
APOLOGISE TO JFK FOR YOUR NEGATIVE COMMENTS AND TO ASOKWA CONSTITUENCY FOR YOUR BETRAYAL—-ASOKWA NPP COORDINATORS TO FOSU NKROMAH.
We, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) electoral area coordinators in the Asokwa Constituency by this release want to urge our Chairman, Rev Benjamin Fosu Nkromah to render an unqualified apology to the newly elected General Secretary of our party, Justin Frimpong Kodua Esq.
This has become necessary due to some unsavoury comments he passed on the latter before the 16th July national conference.
We also demand same apology from our Chairman as a constituency for breaking our trust despite the agreement we had with him to campaign and vote for our preferred person as General Secretary of the party.
BACKGROUND: Prior to the constituency executive elections of the New Patriotic Party in Asokwa, we, the coordinators in the 14 electoral areas and Asokwa constituents reached an agreement with all the contesting candidates that as a way of having our endorsements they would also campaign for our preferred candidate for General Secretary.
We can recall that Mr Eric Adu Fosu, Deputy constituency secretary, Mr Edmund Kyei, 1st Vice Chairman, Papa Yaw Asare Bediako John, Secretary and constituency Chairman, Benjamin Fosu Nkromah all agreed to the terms of our engagement which was to work and campaign for JFK.
It is important to state that all those who agreed to our terms worked and campaigned for our candidate, JFK and they did so publicly.
However, our constituency Chairman, some weeks before the national elections, broke away from the agreement by openly declaring support for the former General Secretary, Mr John Boadu.
We concede that our agreement was a gentleman’s one and was not a blood covenant, even though those who agreed on our terms swore to abide by same.
However, in breaking from the agreement, our Chairman also without force was heard loud and clear pledging support for John Boadu and in doing so he described our current General Secretary, JFK with an unprintable word.
We do not only find the attitude of our Chairman distasteful, but very reprehensible.
OTHER WORRYING ISSUES:
In a related and a worrying issue, our Chairman
Rev Fosu Nkromah has until now failed to sit with the Asokwa constituency executive committee to agree on persons who should form the council of patrons, as well as persons who should occupy the office as Deputies to the elected executives.
This autocratic tendency and behaviour was what our Chairman demonstrated in his first term in office.
It is mind-blowing that despite assurances to amend his ways and build consensus with party members during his second term bid campaign, the chairman after securing a second term has gone back to his autocratic attitude.
RELIEFS:
We, the coordinators and Asokwa constituents by this release are calling on our Chairman to render an apology to the person of Lawyer Justin Frimpong Kodua for the term used against the latter.
We also ask our Chairman to do the needful by showing us respect for breaking away from the agreement he had with us and also preventing persons in Asokwa who could have voted for our preferred in the national elections.
In conclusion, we find the behaviour and attitude of our Chairman very insulting and unbecoming of a constituency chairman whose member was contesting for such a high office and was in the business trying to pull him down.
We therefore ask that after the apology he behaves as a true patriot having gotten his mandate from the good people of Asokwa recently for a second time.
Thank you.