Members of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Assin South constituency have adhered to an advice from the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo urging them not to vote for breakaway members of the party running as independent parliamentary candidates.
President Akufo-Addo, who was on a three-day working visit in the Ashanti Region last week, said those who had decided to contest as independent candidates ought to be shown their rightful places.
According to him, the activities of those persons may hurt the chances of the party in the polls, hence urging member of the NPP not to vote for such independent candidates.
On the back of this, NPP supporters in Assin South have vowed to obey the President by voting for the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP), Rev. John Ntim Fordjour.
Speaking to the media, some of them said, “We respect President Akufo-Addo, and we have seen how massively he’s performing together with our hardworking Member of Parliament, Rev John Ntim Fordjour. We can’t disobey him by voting for any independent candidate who couldn’t wait for his/her time to come. We only know President Akufo-Addo and Rev. John Ntim Fordjour.”
The NPP members said this on the back of rumours allegedly emanating from the camp of an independent candidate in the constituency, Joseph Kofi Damtse and his followers that he had been cleared and authorized by the President to contest alongside the current parliamentary candidate in the upcoming elections.
Background
Some aggrieved NPP members who claim they were unjustifiably disqualified from contesting in the party’s parliamentary primaries have resolved to contest the polls as independent candidates.
Constituencies, where such issues have been reported, include Asokwa, Bekwai, Ahafo-Ano-North and Assin South.
Joseph Kofi Damtse has since been campaigning in the Assin South constituency.
