The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Afram Plains South in the Eastern region, Joseph Appiah Boateng has given the Electoral Commission (EC) a 48-hour ultimatum to disqualify Eric Osei-Owusu and declare Mark Oliver Kevor as the party’s parliamentary candidate for Afram Plains South or else he would place an injunction on the parliamentary elections in the constituency.
Currently, tension is brewing in the Afram Plains South constituency, as two candidates namely Eric Osei-Owusu and Mark Oilver Kevor have filed their nominations on the ticket of the NDC after the incumbent MP, who was re-elected as the parliamentary candidate for the 2016 general elections, stepped down over a court case brought against him.
The MP said the situation has given rise to serious infighting in the party in the constituency, with majority of the NDC faithful in the constituency throwing their weight behind Mark Oliver Kevor, who is seen as a compromised candidate and had been mandated by the national chairman of the party to contest on the ticket of the NDC.
“I wish to say categorically that as far as the Afram Plains South Constituency is concerned, the only candidate the NDC knows is Mark Oliver Kevor because he comes from the constituency and also schooled there but Eric Osei-Owusu was brought from somewhere by the national vice chairman of the NDC, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo to contest in the NDC primary in the constituency,” he said, stressing that Eric Osei-Owusu is not a registered voter in the constituency.
He said after defeating Eric Osei-Owusu in the primary, the national vice chairman allegedly hatched a plan to disqualify him (MP) for criticising him for using state machinery to extend electricity to his farms which is located in a remote part of the constituency.
Hon Appiah-Boateng, who gave the ultimatum during a press briefing in parliament yesterday, said he had decided to back Mark-Oliver Kevor, the current regional secretary because he is the only one who can unite the party in the constituency and retain the seat for the party.
“Now the news is that Mark Oliver Kevor with a letter from national chairman, Kofi Portuphy has filed on the ticket of the NDC while Eric Osei-Owusu also with a purported letter from the deputy general secretary, Koku Anyidoho has also filed on the ticket of the NDC so the EC must come out and declare who is indeed running on the ticket of the NDC in the Afram South constituency for 2016,” he said.
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