Isaac Akweetey
26 August 2008
Koforidua — The New Juaben North branch of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) is in trouble as the Parliamentary Candidate (PC), Mr. Joshua Attah Mensah, has threatened to take the party to court, if he is prevented from contesting the election.
Investigations conducted by The Chronicle in the constituency, revealed that some top men of the party have asked the PC-elect to step down, for one Mr. Emmanuel Adu Boateng, since he (the PC-elect) was not an Akan, and also did not have the financial muscle to lead the party to victory.
According to information received by this reporter, the top party executives have promised to give the PC-elect a ministerial position, if the party should win power in the December elections, and pay all his expenses incurred during the primary.
It would be recalled that on February 2 this year, Mr. Joshua Attah Mensah was declared winner at the party's parliamentary primary, which was keenly contested by Mr. Frimpong Mensah, former parliamentary candidate and Mr. Emmanuel Adu Boateng, former Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of the New Juaben Municipal Assembly.
Out of 118 votes cast, Joshua polled 50 votes to win the primary, with Mr. Adu Boateng and Mr. Frimpong trailing with 37 and 31 respectively.
The Chronicle investigation revealed that soon after the primary, the Eastern Regional Organizer of the party, Mr. Bismark Tawiah Boateng, told one Mr. Osei that the candidature of Attah Mensah was not good enough for a party, which was yearning to stage a come-back to power, since he (Attah Mensah) did not hail from the constituency, and was also not an Akan.
The paper further gathered that prior to the said primary, Mr. Antwi Boasiako Sekyere, Chief of Staff for Prof. Atta Mills' campaign team, moved to the area to campaign for the former MCE.
The Chronicle was again told that Mr. Sekyere claimed Prof Mills had endorsed the candidature of Mr. Boateng, as the best candidate to represent the people of the area in parliament come December, and that his presence in the area testified to that assertion.
The PC-elect confirmed, in an interview with this reporter, that he was being asked to step down, because he was not an Akan.
He expressed surprise at the assertion that he was not an Akan, and also not having the financial power to campaign. According to him, he won the primary, based on his active involvement in the party. According to him, he had petitioned the national executives of the party, to address the situation immediately, in order to save the party and the constituency from any embarrassment.
Mr. Attah Mensah accused Mr. Owusu Sekyere and the Constituency Chairman of trying to kill his parliamentary ambition.
He stressed that in order to promote and deepen democracy in the country, there was the need to desist from tribalism and ethnicity.
He has, therefore, called on the party top men to intervene in the affairs of the constituency, and call the Regional Organizer to order.
Mr. Attah Mensah called on members of the party, who believe in democracy, to promote it, and desist from practices that would undermine democratic procedures, adding, "the NDC party is a democratic institution and not a chieftaincy, which is an elitist institution, based on privilege."
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