The newly-elected General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Justin Frimpong Kodua, has promised to crack the whip on party officials who publicly support any flagbearer aspirant ahead of the NPP’s Presidential primaries.

According to him, such conduct by party officials does not only flout laid down party rules but significantly contributes to factionalism and acrimony within the party, which denies them the momentum to break the eight.

To discourage party officials from conducting themselves in such a manner, the General Secretary vowed to remain neutral before and during the election process and remain firm when sanctioning culprits without fear or favour.

Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express, Justin Frimpong Kodua stated that he has already started sending the message out, warning party officials against any such misconduct.

“As General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party, I will not take sides in the Presidential primaries, and I will be an honest referee; I will make sure that the rules, the processes that lead to us selecting our Presidential candidate will be free, fair and transparent.

“I take a cue from what happened in 2007/08 where at a point in time the party was so sharply divided; we had party officers supporting candidate A others supporting candidate B. By the time we were done with the Presidential primaries, there was so much division and acrimony that we couldn’t unite for the 2008 election.

“So I’m starting that gospel message to everyone that I will not take sides as General Secretary. So it’s something I will push through the committee, NEC and even National Council that party officers, particularly national officers, regional officers, and constituency officers, should not come out to support particular candidates, and we should allow the party people.

“Once the party makes rules, once the party makes directive, trust me on that, we will crack the whip when it becomes necessary without fear or favour,” he said.