February 7

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DAILY
Politics
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2018
Use appropriate quarters for
redress— Chair aspirant begs
BY EDWARD ADETI
AREGIONAL
chairman aspirant
of the New
Patriotic Party
(NPP) in the
Upper East Region,
Mr Filson Awankua, has
consoled NPP candidates who
were let down in the recent race
for executive positions at the
polling station level and entreated
them to use “the appropriate
quarters” to make amends.
The electoral exercise, held
nationwide in the last week of
January, this year, at polling stations
and electoral areas, saw
sour turn of events as clashes
erupted in the Upper West and
Eastern Regions over alleged
sidestepping of electoral rules by
some big shots.
Although complaints
emerged strongly in the Upper
East Region after the conduct of
the elections, with some fallen
old executives claiming they were
“unfairly” and “illegally” toppled
to favour new entrants, that outbreak
of anger did not sink into
chaos.
Mr Awankua, who likewise is
in a tough race for the regional
chairmanship title with four
other titans of the party, appealed
for calm in a statement he
issued to the press.
“I would like to congratulate
all those who emerged victorious
out of the contest and to appeal
to the unsuccessful contestants
to continue to support the party
in diverse ways as the party
needs them now more than before.
I was not surprised the entire
process was peaceful with
much co-operation and understanding
because I know my
people very well and they do not
disappoint when it comes to issues
like this,” he said.
He added: “However, I would
like to plead with those who in
one way or the other are not satisfied
with the conduct of the
elections to use the appropriate
quarters as prescribed by the
party for redress. Let us remember
that we belong to a political
party with very high credentials
when it comes to democracy.
Therefore, we should not engage
in acts that will bring the name
of the party into disrepute.”
Thousands of candidates
took part in the elections at
1,227 polling stations and 353
electoral areas in the region. The
constituency, regional and national
executive elections are
slated for the last weeks in February,
April and June, this year,
respectively.
• Filson Awankua
Mr Awankua, according to his
communications team, intends
to reorganise the NPP in the region,
from the polling station
level to the regional office, into a
party that “adheres to a disciplined
chain of command”.
“Every regional office of the
NPP is to have a Finance Committee
chaired by the Financial
Secretary. This is, unfortunately,
not the case in the Upper East
Region. The effect is that financial
checks and balances are
compromised. Awankua is determined
to ensure cohesive party
structures from the polling to
the regional office that adheres
to a disciplined chain of command,”
the communication team
said in a statement made available
to the media.
“I would like to congratulate all those who emerged victorious out
of the contest and to appeal to the unsuccessful contestants to
continue to support the party in diverse ways as the party needs
them now more than before. I was not surprised the entire
process was peaceful with much co-operation and understanding
because I know my people very well and they do not disappoint
when it comes to issues like this,” he said.
The team also paints a picture
of an NPP critically divided in
the region over personal interests—
a worrying tide members
of the team say would take only
a “unifier and messiah” in the
person of Awankua to turn in
the interest of the party ahead of
the 2020 general elections.
“It does appear that the party
hierarchy is not driven by a unity
of purpose. In some constituencies
and at the regional level,
party leadership is at loggerheads
with appointees and among
themselves. The leadership,
rather than solve issues of disunity,
appear to be interested in
personal goals and aggrandizement.
“A few conflict situations are
illustrative: Bongo, factionalism
within the constituency executive
since 2004; Chiana-Paga, DCE
versus Constituency Chairman;
Regional Minister versus Regional
Executive/Chairman; Regional
Executive, Chairman
versus Financial Secretary. Mr.
Awankua is an engineer. Call him
constructor. The engineering
profession requires that the professional
builds from scratch or
repairs what is broken. He intends
to do just that as leader of
the party in the region— construct
bridges of unity where
these are absent and repair broken
bridges of unity,” the statement
said.
Hopeful Awankua targets
more seats for NPP
Mr. Awankua, a native of
Zuarungu in the Bolgatanga East
Constituency and product of
Takoradi Technical University
and Cape Coast Technical University,
says he intends to win
more parliamentary seats than
the three the party captured in
the Upper East region— a
stronghold of the opposition
National Democratic Congress
(NDC)— at the 2016 general
polls.
The aspirant, who holds a
B.Sc. Degree in Engineering
from KAAF University, Cape
Coast— an affiliate of the Engineering
College of Birmingham,
United Kingdom— seeks to
elbow out incumbent Mohammed
Murtala Ibrahim at the
April showdown. The other
heavyweights said to be rigorously
pulling up their socks to
occupy that position include
Lawyer Anthony Namoo, Joseph
Agongo and Abdalla Otito
Werseh Achuliwor.
“I am also very hopeful and
optimistic that the peace, co-operation
and understanding that
characterised the entire process
of these elections will be replicated
in the upcoming constituency
and regional executive
elections.
Let us conduct ourselves before,
during and after the constituency
and regional executive
elections as we did during the
just-ended polling stations and
electoral area elections.
“We need to remain united
after all this process to form a
formidable force to win more
seats for our party. I believe in
unity in diversity. I believe you
will agree with me that we deserve
more seats than the only
three we have in the region and
it will be tedious if not impossible
to win more with a divided
front. Finally, let’s ensure there is
peace and unity among us after
the entire processes to make the
NPP attractive for 2020,” Mr
Awankua stressed in his press release.
“It does appear
that the party hierarchy
is not driven
by a unity of purpose.
In some constituencies
and at
the regional level,
party leadership is
at loggerheads
with appointees
and among themselves.
The leadership,
rather than
solve issues of disunity,
appear to be
interested in personal
goals and
aggrandisement.”