A group calling itself New Patriotic Party (NPP) youth for 2016 is calling on the party’s Council of Elders to sanction party’s General Secretary, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie for declaring premature support for the party’s twice-defeated presidential candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo.

According to the group, actions of Sir John as he is popular called, smack of disrespect for authority and amount to “scoring own goals”.

“It will be fatal for our party and Council of Elders to overlook the "irresponsible endorsement" of Sir John.

Below is the full statement.

SANCTION SIR JOHN!!!

Last Thursday, an elder of the party, Prof. Mike Oquaye was on radio and said the council of elders had called Sir John to order and that he won't make such divisive and irresponsible comment of endorsing Nana Addo.  Barely 24 hours after the wise words, was the General Secretary on radio XYZ endorsing Nana Addo.

This smacks of disrespect for authority and we call on the council of elders to summon Sir John immediately and direct the disciplinary committee to investigate and sanction him. You wonder why such a person, who has so much enjoyed from the party, would seek to ‘kill’ the party at a time when there is so much acrimony in it. Someone that our dues have paid for his accommodation at SSNIT guest house and mirage hotel should not pay back this party this way.

As youth of this party whose long standing aspiration is to inherit a party that is a force in dignity, discipline and power conscious, we cannot sit unconcerned in the face of many more own-goals being scored by Sir John; for many have questioned the wisdom of his path but answers do not seem to come down clearly.

And to all those who take Sir John's abhorrent political deviance lightly or likely, we have this further point for you. The depth of the danger of "irresponsible endorsement" is that, if this is not reprimanded but replicated, a time may come when the electoral commission and the security services may take sides in a general election. This will spell doom for all of us, and so all must show concern in this moral crisis to avoid a deadly betrayal of our most ancient and cherished values as Danquah-Dombo-Busia family.

We are not and we will never be blind to mistake absolutism for principle or irresponsibility for democratic stands. And so we place part of the onus on Sir John himself, he must allow his own conscience a major advisory role and disengage himself, with much urgency, from what could be best done by other sympathizers of Nana Addo, not a general secretary who should be neutral.

In 2014 and in the coming years, there must be no moment in NPP when multi-million cedis pocket will speak louder than the aspirations, the voice and the votes of the ordinary party people. We speak for the voiceless, for the weak, and for the over 5million  dignified men and women who pay the double price of smashed hopes under Sir John's weird, weak and wicked leadership. We also call on every NPP member to remain calm in the face of an attempt by elements from within to destroy the party.

We speak for agenda 2016, for the urgent victory we collectively seek. It will be fatal for our party and council of elders to overlook the urgency of a change in and/or of Sir John. Long live the truth, long live NPP.

Signed

Barima Sarpong

NPP Youth for 2016