A group of NPP Activists in the Tema West Constituency are up in arms against the party’s leadership in the Greater Accra Region, accusing them of scheming to impose the current MP Irene Naa Torshie Addo on the party, by intimidating potential aspirants to pull out. Kwesi Poku, an NPP activist and a Campaign Manager for Adjoa Amoakowaa, one of the contestants, has told Citi News there is a grand ploy even at the highest level to force all other aspirants to withdraw from the democratic race. He alleged that executives of the party in the Greater Accra Region, specifically the Secretary and the Youth Organizer, have openly declared their support for the sitting MP, a practice which is against the rules of the contest. He also mentioned that the party’s General Secretary Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie and Hon. Osei Akoto a leading member of the party, to convince potential aspirants to withdraw from the race. "It is sad that this party proclaims to be masters of democracy. I am in support of one candidate called Adjoa Amoakowaa, but they have refused to even give the polling station list to the candidate which is a requirement after picking a form. No executive is willing to give out the list. There has been tension mounting in Tema West all this while so there must be a level playing field. I think there is even no need for anyone to contest that election because the Regional Secretary and the Youth Organizer have openly declared their support for the MP. I have also heard that the party’s General Secretary has called the other aspirant not to contest the MP. The Regional Secretary is always in the MP’s house" he alleged. But the Greater Accra Regional NPP Secretary Adjei Sowah has flatly denied endorsing the MP at any forum and asked his accuser to prove the claims. He told Citi News Mr. Kwesi Poku was only seeking to generate unnecessary controversy into an exercise that is being done in a transparent manner, and slammed the young man for moving from one media house to the other to peddle false allegations. But Mr. Kwesi Poku stands by his claims and has vowed to expose the Regional Secretary with a recording in which he openly endorsed the MP and asked for people to vote for her. “I have a recording of the Regional Secretary telling somebody to ensure that they do everything possible to maintain the MP and we will play it for everyone to hear. The Youth Organizer and the Regional secretary were in the MPs house to help her. Even the Chairman of the Vetting Committee in the constituency who is a member of the council of elders has been removed but they have done nothing about it. I was somewhere when Hon. Osei Akoto also called one candidate and asked him to allow the MP to go unopposed". "We know they are doing everything possible to protect the MPs. We know what the MPs are doing for the party now. We the people of Tema West will put up a candidate against any Candidate they bring if they fail to do the right thing and we are sure that at the end it is the party that is going to suffer” he warned. The NPP after a post-mortem of the 2008 elections admitted that its defeat was partly due to the poor manner in which parliamentary primaries were held. Its Flagbearer for the 2012 elections, Nana Akufo-Addo, recently confirmed this and called for a free, fair and transparent process in the upcoming Parliamentary primaries. But if the allegations of plans to impose certain candidates are anything to go by, then certainly the party is not taking lessons from the past. Source: Citifmonline.com