[ 2013-12-27 ]

Stop the destructive tendencies in NPP - UK Branch
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) overseas branch in
the United Kingdom will not be able to hold its
internal elections as scheduled due to a major
obstacle it’s suffered recently.

The members of the constituted Electoral Committee
for the conduct of its branch executives elections
have resigned en bloc in an apparent indignant
towards the machinations and intimidations by the
current Chairman Mr. Hayford Atta Kruffi and his
band of merry-making men, some of whom are
staunched supporters of the twice defeated
Presidential candidate Nana Akufo-Addo. Elections
of the nine elected members of the sixteen
executives committee are scheduled for Sunday 26th
January 2014 but events preceding the election
have been marred by Mr. Hayford Atta Kruffi’s
negative tendencies. Some of the executive members
have accused Atta Kruffi of manipulations and
abuse of incumbency mainly to foster his personal
agenda.

The Chairman, who has been in office for the past
8 years, is hell-bent to continue for another 4
years but is paranoid of the outcome of a fairly
contested elections since he has become hugely
unpopular among the members of the branch. The
Chairman who enjoys the support of the Treasurer
Mr. Eric Agyemang and the tacit support of Nana
Akufo Addo who is currently in London for medical
treatment appears to use his incumbency to achieve
an unprecedented third term. The resignation of
the entire Election Committee puts the election
calendar in disarray since the National Executive
election is scheduled for 1st March 2014 in Ghana.


Factionalism in New Patriotic Party is tearing the
UK branch apart to the extent that the branch
executives have not met on two occasions when the
incumbent Chairman Atta Kruffi called for
Executive meeting due to lack of quorum. Some of
the elected officials of the branch have sent
messages to the National head office in Accra to
empty the coffers of NPP-UK of its over
£16,000.00 cash in order to avoid the money being
used to support the campaign of the current
Chairman. This fear is being expressed on the
grounds that, NPP-UK account is ran like the
personal account of the Chairman and Treasurer.
However, the convention under the chairmanship of
Hon. J. H Mensah who later became the Senior
Minister in Kufuor’s administration; Hon. S. K
Boafo; Mr. Adjei-Bawuah; and Mr. Ampratwum-Sarpong
was that, NPP-UK & Ireland barely had £500 in its
account as monies were immediately transferred to
Accra for political activities in Ghana.

Members of the party in the overseas branches
including the North America branches are worried
about the way the NPP franchise is being used by
self-seeking individuals in London and are calling
on the National Council of Elders to call Mr. Atta
Kruffi and the Treasurer to order. Their
bewilderment emanate from the fact that, the party
is struggling in raising funds to support the
conduct of constituency executives elections in
Ghana while the United Kingdom branch is keeping
large sums of money in their accounts. Since some
members cannot trust the intentions of Atta Kruffi
and the Treasurer Mr. Eric Agyemang, they have
threatened to go public on the various
machinations.

Source - Kwaku Baah, Hackney

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