NPP Nhyiaeso primaries: polling station executive files suit to stop Kennedy Kankam from contesting

A polling station executive of the New Patriotic Party in Nhyiaeso in the Ashanti Region, Nana Osei Owusu Bempah, has filed an action at the court in which he seeks an order of the court to disqualify Kennedy Kankam from contesting in the NPP’s Nhyiaeso parliamentary primary.

The applicant, Owusu Bempah, is also praying for the court to restrain Kennedy Kankam from holding himself out as a candidate in the 27 January primaries and from engaging in any campaign activities until the pending suit has been disposed of by the court.

According to a copy of the motion provided to Asaase News and filed by Lawyer Peter Osei-Asamoah, counsel for the applicant, the application is expected to be moved on Wednesday 24 January 2024, three days to the date of the NPP primaries, at the high court in Accra.

Reliefs sought

In all, the applicant, Nana Osei Owusu Bempah, is seeking seven reliefs from the general jurisdiction high court when his suit comes up for hearing.

First, he is asking for “a declaration that upon a true and proper interpretation of Rules 15 and 16 of the rules and regulations governing the conduct of parliamentary primaries in the constituencies with sitting MPs, Kennedy Kankam (second defendant), by virtue of his current position as the municipal chief executive (MCE) of the Asokore Mampong Municipal Area was not eligible to pick nomination forms to contest in the NPP’s (first defendant’s) parliamentary primaries in the Nhyiaeso constituency”.

Second, “a declaration that the second defendant, who is the current municipal chief executive of the Asokore Mampong Municipal Area, ought to have been disqualified by the vetting committee and not referred to the National Executive Committee of the first defendant for further deliberations and decision”.

Third, “a declaration that the decision of the vetting committee to refer the second defendant to the National Executive Committee of the first defendant for further deliberation and decision instead of disqualifying him pursuant to Rules 15 and 16 of the rules and regulations governing the conduct of the parliamentary primaries in constituencies with sitting MPs is ultra vires and of no effect”.

The fourth, fifth and sixth reliefs are in the form of orders. The fourth is “an order disqualifying Kennedy Kankam (second defendant) from contesting in the parliamentary primaries of the first defendant in the Nhyiaeso constituency”.

The fifth relief is “an order of injunction restraining the NPP (first defendant), its agents, and/or representatives including the National Council, National Executive Committee, and the steering committee from discussing, deliberating and/or taking any decision on the referral made by the vetting committee on the second defendant qualification or otherwise, until this court has adjudicated and disposed of the instant dispute”.

Sixth, “an order of injunction restraining Kennedy Kankam (second defendant) from holding himself out as a candidate in the first defendant’s parliamentary primaries in the Nhyiaeso constituency and from engaging in any campaign activities including printing and circulation of campaign materials, campaigning on radio, television and or any traditional and social media, engaging delegates to vote for him in the parliamentary primaries, until this dispute has been disposed of by this honourable court”.

The applicant is also seeking costs, including solicitors’ fees.

Background

The NPP’s parliamentary vetting committee at its sitting on 3 January 2024, referred the vetting of Kennedy Kankam, the MCE for Asokore Mampong, to the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party for clarification over claims by Kankam during his vetting that he has been given a special dispensation by the NEC to contest in the party’s Nhyiaeso primaries even though he is a serving MCE.

Kankam, a former MP for Nhyiaeso, wants to stage a comeback to unseat his main contender, the deputy trade and industry minister Stephen Amoah, who took over the seat in 2020 after beating Kankam in the primaries ahead of the December 2020 general elections.

In an interview with Asaase News after the referral, the chairman of the vetting committee, Gary Nimako Marfo, argued that Kennedy Kankam claimed when he appeared before the committee that he had been given a special dispensation by the NEC to stand in the primaries because he was an MCE in a different area from Nhyiaeso.

Nimako Marfo said the vetting committee considered Kankam’s claim to be inconsistent with the vetting committee’s terms of reference and so it unanimously decided to give clearance to the first two contenders in the constituency and to put Kankam’s clearance on hold, pending the NEC’s advice on his eligibility.

Nimako Marfo further said suggestions that the vetting committee had cleared Kankam to stand in the 27 January primaries were false because he did not take part in the balloting which took place after vetting on Wednesday 3 January 2024.

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