Five Members of Parliament of the opposition New Patriotic Party are blaming their three time flag bearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, for creating the deep seated division in the party and thereby sliming the chances of the party coming back to power in the near future.
According to the five MPs, ever since former President Kufuor ceded the leadership of the party to the twice defeated presidential candidate after winning the 2007 flag bearer contest, “the hitherto united NPP has been fractured and fragmented and continue to disintegrate.”
The NPP legislators, who spoke to The aL-hAJJ on strict condition of anonymity, noted that Nana Akufo-Addo has allowed his overly ambitious dream of becoming president, to not only destroy the party but, also threatening its very survival.
“The division in the party came about as a result of Nana’s uncompromising posturing…he places his personal interest above the collective good of the party and that has been the bane of our progress…, if we are not careful our party could break up any time soon.” One of the disheartened MPs warned.
Surprisingly, most of the NPP MPs accusing Nana Akufo-Addo were persons who openly campaigned for his third time comeback and have in the past defended him to the hilt.
“This is not the party that was handed over to him. Nana was bequeathed a united party with bright prospects but look at how he has ended up splitting it…his divide and rule leadership style is killing the NPP,” one of the MPs from the Ashanti region and a well-known Akufo-Addo backer noted.
The biggest opposition party has been in turmoil since delegates of the party defied Nana Akufo-Addo’s instructions not to vote for Paul Afoko and Kwabena Agyapong as National Chairman and General Secretary, respectively, over claims that he could not work with them, leaving the party divided.
To further deepened the cracks in the NPP, Nana Akufo-Addo and his lackeys have on several occasions, albeit unsuccessful, attempted to remove the two supposed ‘anti-Akufo-Addo internal nemeses’ for allegedly working with the ruling National Democratic Congress to deny their 2016 flag bearer victory in the 2016 elections.
Following this unfortunate happenings in the party, the Upper East regional Chairman, Alhaji Mahama Adams, was acid-bathed by some unknown persons believed to be activists of the opposition NPP.
The party has also been embroiled in allegation and counter allegations of corruption. First vice Chairman, Freddy Blay and National Treasurer, Kwabena Abankwa Yeboah are presently under investigation over monies allegedly deposited in a supposed secret at ECOBANK.
National Chairman of the party, Paul Afoko is also being probed by the party’s disciplinary committee following an official complaint by the party’s Council of elders, who could not fathom why the embattled National Chairman, among other charges, commented on the alleged corruption scandal at the party’s headquarters in the media.
The present turmoil in the NPP, according to party insiders, is said to have divided the party along Nana Akufo-Addo and ex-President Kufuor lines, with loyalists of the former president vowing to resist any attempts by the 2016 flag bearer and his men to impeach Afoko and Kwabena Agyapong.
In the views of the NPP MPs who spoke to The aL-hAJJ, “this unfortunate and regrettable situation has dimmed our chances of coming back to power in 2016…these things affected us in the 2008 and 2012 elections and we are faced with it again. Nana and his people have antagonized almost everybody who disagreed with him…and yet, we claim our party is where dissenting views are welcomed and tolerated,” they noted.
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