�Jake, Sir John Have Lost Moral Authority To End Wranglings In NPP�

One of the leading aspirants in the General Secretary race of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Yaw Buabeng Asamoah, has opined that the incumbent chairman and general secretary of the party have lost the moral authority to deal with internal wranglings affecting the party. In line with this, the legal practitioner has called on the National Council of the NPP to be firm and take control of the situation to reduce the internal wranglings of the party to the minimum. In the view of the general secretary aspirant, the National Council must take charge of what he called �the big issues affecting the party everyday.� �What I am aiming at is not who runs the daily affairs of the party, including who buys petrol and distributes letters, but who addresses thorny issues such as whether the NPP will organise a centralised or decentralised congress; who investigates alleged corrupt practices and who helps to end the insults and bring sanity, as well as unity into party affairs.� In a telephone interview with the Daily Graphic, Mr Buabeng, who was extremely concerned about the ongoing internal wranglings within the party, simply declared, �the Chairman, Jake Otanka Obetsebi-Lamptey, and the General Secretary, Kwadwo Owusu-Afriyie, have lost the moral authority to run the processes leading towards the party�s national election.� National Council He explained that since Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey and Mr Owusu-Afriyie, respectively, were seeking re-election, it would only be fair to all candidates if the National Council of the party took over and steered the affairs of the party leading up to the national executive elections. YB, as he is popularly called, said the National Council, as a matter of urgency, must be more assertive in dealing with the big issues and decisions that were impacting negatively on the well-being of the party. He mentioned that he had recently visited the Western, Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions and his interactions with delegates point to the fact that they were not happy with the ongoing internal wranglings within the party. He argued that it was not for nothing that the composition of the National Council was structured the way it was in the NPP Constitution. �The National Council must take up this challenge and save the seemingly drowning image of the New Patriotic Party,� Mr Buabeng urged. According to the NPP general secretary aspirant, there was the need to present a united NPP to the people of Ghana in 2016. Sharing his impressions as he canvassed for the votes of NPP delegates across the country, Mr Buabeng stated that the delegates wanted power in 2016 and they believed that the foundation for success at the polls would be unity and a strategic outlook. Mr Buabeng, therefore, urged the party to concentrate its efforts on winning power in 2016 by staying focused, united and working to identify the party with the grass roots. Vigorous campaign He said he had been vigorously campaigning in the past week and had received very positive reaction from delegates he met in the constituencies, including Bibiani Ahweaso, Bekwai, Bodi, Takoradi, Kwesimintim, Ahanta West, Wassa West, Juaboso, Sefwi Wiawso, Bibiani and Suaman. Mr Buabeng Asamoah, who is campaigning on the theme, �Unity To Protect The Ballot,� urged the NPP delegates to subject the candidates who came to them to crucial and critical scrutiny. He tasked them to check their backgrounds when they came to them for votes. The selection of candidates, he added, must exude confidence and selflessness in order to ensure unity and stability in the NPP. Mr Buabeng pointed out that the time had come for the party to avoid divisions that tore it apart anytime there was an internal election. He said that the NPP was for all of its members and not a section of the people. He encouraged the delegates to make massive contributions to ensure the party's victory in 2016 by electing the right executives for the job. Mr Buabeng, considered one of the legal luminaries within the NPP, and a good communicator, is on top of issues, and can unite all the various levels of the party membership.