Posted: The Chronicle | Tuesday, October 13, 2009
By Charles Takyi - Boadu
The supposed ‘confusion’ that has characterized the selection and election of polling station executives for the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has compelled party faithful, Mr. Stephen Aggrey-Ntim, who is contesting for the position of National Chairman to caution the party against attempts to subvert the spirit and letter of the NPP constitution.
Whilst appreciating the fact that the selection of polling station executives has been generally peaceful, he noted that there were still pockets of incidents and disagreements in certain areas.
This, according to him, does not augur well for the selection process and, therefore, called on that in-charge to be careful not to undermine the constitution of the party.
Mr. Aggrey-Ntim was speaking in an exclusive interview with The Chronicle yesterday, in reaction to concerns raised about the supposed confusion that characterized the selection of some polling station executives in some parts of the country.
To him, judging by the massive numbers of more than 21,000 polling stations across the length and breadth of the country, he was satisfied with the process and awarded a pass mark of 80% to the conduct of the elections so far.
Out of the over 21,000 polling stations nationwide, he noted that there have been incidents and disagreements in less than 200 polling stations and, therefore, could not entirely rubbish the process, as some have sought to do.” These are infractions that are to be expected in every competitive elections”, he emphasized.
In the past, only the polling station chairmen were allowed to vote, but under the provisions of the newly amended constitution of the party, five people who are selected from the polling station level would get the opportunity to vote in the selection of the party’s Presidential Candidate.
Mr. Ntim believes it is this excitement of having the opportunity to be part and parcel of the selection process of the party’s Presidential candidate that has accounted for the few incidents and, therefore, advised NPP activists to allow the party’s constitution to work.
“We should simply allow the constitution to operate and operate freely”, he noted.
Mr. Ntim, who contested and lost the position of National Chairman of the party to incumbent Peter Mac Manu in the last elections, said “If everybody were to adhere strictly to the constitution that we have all agreed upon, the current situation would not have arisen.
“But here is the case where you will find some people trying to bend the rules, setting the constitution aside in order to select their own friends and cronies to become polling station officers, because they will have a say in the election of the constituency officers, MPs, e.t.c.”
According to him, anything short of this has the tendency of stirring more confusion in the party.
Meanwhile, NPP has defended what is happening at the polling station elections, by saying the conduct of the polls so far and the decision to include polling station executives in its electoral college deserve commendation.
A statement signed by party Communication Director, Kwaku Kwarteng, said the move to extend the authority to the grass roots, was not only commendable, but that it would also go a long way to deepen internal democracy in Ghana.
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