Aspiring member of Parliament for Korle Klortey on the ticket on the New Patriotic Party , Lawyer Philip Addison , has claimed that allegations made against the National Chairman of the party, Paul Afoko and General Secretary , Kwabena Agyepong with regards to schemes being hatched sabotaging the presidential bid of Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo could be true .
Speaking in an interview with Joy FM yesterday Mr. Addison noted that the perception about the clandestine moves by the Chairman and the General Secretary of the NPP to obstruct the campaign of Nana Addo for victory in 2016 cannot be discounted.
Some members of the New Patriotic Party have accused the two high level party officials of stoking divisions within the party with their avid resolution to scuttle the party’s campaign to recapture power in 2016.
The lawyer who represented the party in the election petition case does not think the burden of proof should be laid at the doorstep of the accusers.
“There is a perception out there that they (Paul Afoko and Kwabena Agyepong) are working against the presidential candidate and it is a very strong perception. The burden is on them to discharge that perception. The ball is in their court to prove otherwise.”
“We all know that there is something going on…it gives the impression that there is some kind of confusion in the party,” Mr. Addison stated.
“Perceptions don’t just happen, there is a perception that there is corruption in the NDC, people don’t just wake up and then have these perceptions; it is based on very tangible reason. Why not any other person? Why should it be these people? So there is a basis for that.”
He would however not agree with a founding member of the party, George Ayisi Boateng, suggesting that the two should be sidelined going into the 2016 general elections.
They remain officers of the party so such a measure would not be in order, he explained.
Mr. Addison’s comments are coming at a time the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party says dealing with the internal divisions within his party remains his topmost agenda as he prepares to form a campaign team for the 2016 polls. The founding member of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) George Ayisi Boateng last week called on the party’s General Secretary Kwabena Agyapong and National Chairman Paul Afoko to resign.
Mr. Ayisi Boateng who is Chairman of the party’s Council of Elders in the Ashanti Region said Paul Afoko and Kwabena Agyapong have made the party unpopular among the citizenry hence his suggestion.
His comment came on the back of the death of the Upper East Regional Chairman of the NPP, Adam Mahama which happened in June this year after an acid attack.
George Ayisi Boateng assured that he would lead a crusade to get Paul Afoko and Kwabena Agyapong out of office should they fail to resign. However, Lawyer Addison thinks that is not the solution of the problem.
<<Print>>