Mosquito Sacks NDC Rebels
Johnson Asiedu Nketia
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The General Secretary of National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Asiedu-Nketia, has issued a seven-day ultimatum for party members who have filed to contest as independent candidates to rescind their decision or lose their membership.
It follows the decision by some members of the NDC including Dr Ato Quarshie, Michael Teye Nyaunu, Albert Zigah and Andrew Okaikoi to contest as independent candidates.
Dr. Ato Quarshie, who is a former Roads and Highways Minister, is contesting the Komenda/Edina/Eguafo/Abirem constituency. Michael Teye Nyaunu, the incumbent NDC Member of Parliament (MP) for Lower Manya, and Albert Zigah, NDC MP for Ketu South are contesting as independent candidates in their constituencies. Andrew Okaikoi, husband of former Information Minister Zita Okaikoi is contesting at Okaikoi North.
But at a press conference in Accra yesterday, Mr Asiedu-Nketia said, “The decision of the National Executive Committee with respect to these candidates is that we are giving them one week from today to decide whether they want to be part of the NDC in which case they will withdraw these nominations.”
H noted, “After one week from today (yesterday), they would have abdicated from the NDC.”
This, he said, was in view of the fact that the party intended to present a united front in the upcoming election which was barely a month away.
General Mosquito, as Asiedu Nketia is affectionately called, stressed the need for all card-bearing members of the NDC who had filed nominations to contest the 2012 parliamentary elections as independent candidates to withdraw their candidature.
He however fell short of saying whether or not the decision to go independent would affect the chances of the party in the upcoming election.
Attempts to speak with some of the independent candidates proved unsuccessful, with some declining to comment.
Political observers believed a member of the party contesting as an independent candidate, against one fielded by the party itself, could seriously affect the fortunes of the party since it would split most of its votes.
The NDC has fielded parliamentary candidates in all the 275 constituencies, unlike in the year 2008 when the party failed to present candidates in parts of the Ashanti Region, the stronghold of its main contender the New Patriotic Party (NPP).