NPP To Hold Centralized Congress...Election Of National Executives Rescheduled

PEACEFMONLINE.COM can confirm that Ghana's biggest opposition party, New Patriotic Party (NPP), has rescheduled its impending national delegates congress to a later date. The party has also agreed to organize a centralised congress. The party had originally fixed March 1, 2014, as the date to hold its congress to elect national executives, but at a National Council meeting on Tuesday, the NPP decided to move the date to April 12. It is however unclear if lack of adequate funds was what compelled the National Council to arrive at that decision. The Centralised congress will be held in Tamale in the Northern Region. The National Executive Committee had earlier indicated that a centralised election will cost the party an amount of 1.2 million Ghana cedis, while a decentralised one will only cost a little over 150,000 Ghana cedis. But that figure was hotly disputed by the party's Minority in Parliament, claiming a centralized national congress will cost the party GHc686, 000 for the about 5600 delegates expected to participate in the congress. The MPs say the amount was arrived at after some members were tasked to come up with a workable budget for the congress. In a related development, the NPP has confirmed reports earlier received. A Press Statement issued a short while ago and signed by the party's Acting Director of Communication, Perry Okudzeto said, "at a meeting of the National Council of the New Patriotic Party it was decided that the 2014 Annual Delegates Conference and National Executive Elections be postponed to the 12th of April 2014." The statement added that "in the interim, the mandate of the current National Executives of the party has been extended until the end of the election. The venue for the election shall be Tamale in the Northern Region."