Members of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Ketu North constituency have called on the party’s national leadership to reconsider its declaration of Edem Agbana as parliamentary candidate-elect for the area.
Agbana and John Adanu polled 358 votes each in the party’s 13 May primaries.
The constituency electoral commission suggested a run-off for the two aspirants after they found invalid ballot papers which led to the tie in polls. After a meeting at the party’s headquarters in Accra, the national leadership declared Edem winner and cancelled the proposed run-off.
Party members – who call themselves concerned delegates and party “loyals” – in Ketu North say the declaration of Edem as winner is “unprecedented.”
The convenor of the aggrieved members, Amedegbe Enoch Kwami, at a press conference on Thursday 1 June said, “this unprecedented declaration has created political tension within the rank and file of the delegates and party faithfuls.”
He said the unity of the party in the constituency is being jeopardised and if nothing is done, it “will blow back in our faces.”
More harm than good
The delegates alleged that the constituency and regional executives are silent on the matter, saying it “will cause more harm than good in the constituency if executives do not take initiative to settle the issue.”
They bemoaned that “We feel like the party at the national level is imposing a candidate on us instead of allowing the democratic process to take its course and give us the opportunity to elect our parliamentary candidate and not to select for us.”
The delegates – about 200 people –, at the presser, charged regional executives to “to act taking into consideration our own party rules, regulations, guidelines and our country’s electoral laws.”
They, however, called for a run-off for the two candidates. “What at all will someone lose if a re-run is conducted,” Agbedeme said.
Clad in red clothes at the presser, the aggrieved delegates held placards with inscriptions like “Ketu North in crisis”, “Avedzi, our boat is sinking”, “Blame Asiedu Nketia if Ketu North fails” and “invalid ballots become valid at party headquarters.”
Reporting by Albert Kuzor in the Volta Region
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