Trouble brewed during the organization of the New Patriotic Party(NPP) Ketu South Constituency executive elections when some party big wigs in the area questioned the eligibility of some “purported” members to call for the organization of the elections. According to some gurus of the party, the assumption of the position of election committee chairman by a polling station chairman to organize an election is a show of conflict of interest and would amount to injustice to the rest of the aspirants. Mr C.C. Glakpe, Chairman of the Council of Elders of the party in the area, questioned the suitability of Mr Linus Koffie, an aspiring constituency chairman, to assume the position of an election committee chairman and arrange for elections in the constituency. He said this in reaction to a letter received from Nana Ohene Ntow, General Secretary to the NPP, and forwarded to all aspiring candidates and polling station executives by Mr Koffie directing the constituency elections to be held from Monday, Nov. 2 to Sunday, Nov. 15. He also challenged the aspiring chairman for not following the due procedures of the party’s election committee and called on members to disregard any election activity until further notice. In a letter dated Nov. 10 and copied to the Regional and National chairman of the NPP, Mr Glakpe called on the members to boycott all directives given by Mr Koffie to hold constituency elections since the laid down rules and conventions of the party were not adhered to. “Therefore, all members of the NPP of the Ketu South Constituency should disregard any purported election activity planned by the so-called election committee headed by Mr Linus Koffie”, the letter said. According to Mr Glakpe, the election committee consisted of the chairman of the council of elders as the chairman for the election committee, a patron of the party, a woman of high repute as well as a regional representative of the party, saying, that they were all flouted. He, however, said electoral concerns would be addressed as soon as the election committee is formed. An outgoing executive member who preferred to remain anonymous said the involvement of Mr Koffie as chairman of the election committee is a display of conflict of interest and that “he had been making efforts to split the party for so long”. He said at the time the supposed election committee was formed, only three executive members were present with no quorum formed, where one Mr Ayivor proposed Mr Koffie as chairman of the committee which he added is a gross disrespect for the party’s conventions and position. Mr Simon Gbedevi, one of the two aspiring constituency secretaries, noted it was unwise for Mr Koffie to act the way he did as he was vying for constituency chairmanship and also being a polling station chairman. “We the aspirants are patiently waiting for the proper election committee to be constituted before the elections, but until then, we are carrying out our individual campaigns”, he added. Mr Koffie was the Ketu South District Chief Executive during the 1st term of the erstwhile NPP regime. By: Noble Johnson Kukubor