A former Volta Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Ken-Wuud Nuworsu, has bemoaned the party’s relatively poor performances during elections in the region.
Mr Nuworsoo said the party would have won more seats in the region had he been allowed to choose the parliamentary candidates himself, having had a hand in the victories secured in the election of the party’s only two Volta Regional Members of Parliament (MPs).
“We have made enough inroads in the Volta Region, except for the parliamentary seats. For me, the seats that we aren’t getting in the Volta Region is not because of the strength of the NDC but because of our own internal way of doing politics…It is competitive, an open-ended one. If I had a chance to appoint somebody as a Parliamentary candidate, I think we’d have got more than six seats by now.”
Speaking on Eyewitness News on Wednesday, he argued that despite recent successes in the region in national polls, the party’s “open-ended” electoral system affected the chances of the candidates put forward by the party.
“You’ll see clearly that a person is most likely to win the seat but they can’t win the primaries. The two MPs that NPP has had in the region so far, I knew they were going to win. In [former NPP MP for Nkwanta North, Joseph Nayan’s] case, there was a candidate before he emerged. Based on my work on the ground, I realised that Nayan was a better organiser and more likely to win. When we got the delegates to endorse Nayan, there were elders of the party who sent a delegation to Accra to say they wanted the old candidate. I stood my ground and Nayan became MP. In the other case, [Krachi East MP, Michael Yaw Gyato] was almost discounted. I supported him, gave him resources and told him that he would win, and he won. It’s not the party that rejected the candidates, it’s the system that we operate, it’s open ended.
Ken-Wuud Nuworsu is contesting for the party’s 1st Vice Chairmanship position but faces stiff competition from some persons including Michael Omari Wadie, Agnes Asangalisa Chigabatia, Fredrick Fredua Antoh and Vida Agyekum Acheampong.
The party has set July 7, 2018, as the date for its Delegates Congress in Koforidua in the Eastern Region after the initial June 17 date had to be changed as it clashed with the celebration of Eid ul- Fitr.
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By: Edwin Kwakofi/citinewsroom.com/Ghana