Polling station executives of the New Patriotic Party in the Tamale Central Constituency are said to have petitioned the party's National Chairman Mr. Peter Mac Manu to look into an alleged attempt to impose the Tamale Municipal Chief Executive, Mohammed Amin Anta as the parliamentary candidate.

Some of the polling station executives, according to the Accra Daily Mail, are already fuming with rage over the inclusion of nomination papers of the Tamale Municipal Chief Executive in the vetting process.

A copy of the petition, which was circulated to the media cited among other concerns that by the close of nominations on 10th April 2007, which was extended further to 17th April, 2007, the Tamale MCE hadn't filed his nomination papers to contest in the constituency primary.

The petitioners said only two aspiring candidates had filed their nominations by close of nominations. Mr. Amin Anta, the petition stated, indicated categorically then that he was not interested, citing unpopularity among other reasons why he thought it would not be wise for him to contest the race.

"It has therefore come as a shock to us where and how he acquired the application forms and completed it for vetting and surprisingly used the president's name to support his claim for the late submission", the petition stated.

The petitioners said when the constituency chairman one Alhaji Tanko, who was then busily processing the lately submitted forms was contacted, he replied that he was acting on "orders from the above". He also claimed a precedent had been set in the late submission of application forms and acting on orders from the above.

The petitioners, who understood the Chairman's message as reference to the transfer of forms of an aspirant from Tamale South to Tamale Central in 2004, maintained that the transfer was completed on the final day for nominations to close and therefore should not be deemed as anomalous.

The petitioners appealed to the party's leadership to ensure that the rule of law works at all levels within the party. They concluded that the Tamale Central seat is winnable to the NPP "if only the wishes of Tamale residents are given serious consideration".

According to the Accra Daily Mail, Tamale Central, of all the three constituencies of Tamale, is the one more likely to fall to the NPP, but has been dogged by much bickering and confusion culminating in the very embarrassing Wayo Seini episode last year, when the NPP decided not to contest a bye-election, instead choosing to support the "independent" Wayo Seini after he had re-defected from the NDC to the NPP.

The paper recalled that the party’s primaries for selecting a parliamentary candidate for the Tamale Central Constituency in 2004 was an armed conflict of sorts. A number of supporters besieged the venue armed with all sorts of weapons ranging from knives to guns ready to do battle. An eyewitness at the time reported about intimidation, insult, taunts and downright provocation "as if they belonged to separate political parties."

“That it did not end up in bloodshed remains one of the great mysteries of Election 2004,” said the Accra Daily Mail.


Source: Accra Daily Mail