Some supporters of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Central Region are calling for the end to what they call ‘the animal farm’ leadership style that the national and regional executives of the Party have demonstrated.

According to them, several national and regional executives who have openly declared their support for the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia’s bid to be a flagbearer of the Party against the Party’s rules and regulations have all gone unpunished.

At a news conference in Cape Coast, the spokesperson of the supporters, Samuel Yaw Agyeibi Kessie, lamented how some supporters of Allan Kyeremanten are quickly hounded and intimated in the Party.

The former DCE for Twifo Atti-Mokwaa said they want the cessation of the selective applications of the party’s rules in favour of Dr Bawumia for the party to break the eight.

He said the NPP national leadership released certain Rules and Regulations to regulate the conduct of the party's upcoming internal elections, relative to the behaviour of the would-be aspirants and their supporters, with particular emphasis on the presidential primary.

According to the Party, violators of the rules and regulations were to be dealt with in accordance with the party’s disciplinary procedures, which is spelt out in the party’s constitution.

Among the key directives were as follows:

1. No would-be aspirant should start campaigning for any position until the party so directs.

2. No party official shall declare public support for any aspirant ahead of the official opening of nominations;

3. No paraphernalia promoting or advertising any aspirant should be displayed publicly before the nominations' opening.

The concerned supporters say, however, since the release of the rules and regulations, many high–ranking members of the Party have openly violated the rules and regulations by declaring their support for the Vice President who has left nobody in doubt of his ambition to become the Party’s presidential candidate.

“Prominent among these party officials who have blatantly violated the party’s rules and regulations are as follows: Deputy General Secretary of the party, Obiri Boahen; the Northern Regional Executives led by chairman Samba, the first Vice regional chairman of Ashanti, Kwabena Nsenkyire; Karaga MP, Amin Anta; Tolon MP, Habib Iddrisu and Farouk Mahama, Yendi MP and some others,” he said.

Interestingly, they state that even though the officials mentioned above and senior members violate the Party’s code of conduct, none of the violators has been called to order by the National Executives of the Party.

The worse of it, they allege, is that at the recent National Delegates Conference of the Party, the Vice-President, Dr Bawumia, who was part of the very body that promulgated the Party’s rules and regulations, in wanton disregard of the same rules and regulations, arrived at the conference grounds with supporters wearing his branded T-shirts and banners announcing his campaign for the flagbearership.

“As if breaching the code of conduct wasn’t embarrassing, the Vice-President and cohorts, in their desperation, went as far as breaching the State’s protocol, as he and his followers arrived late to the function, well after His Excellency the President, Nana Akufo-Addo, was seated with the First Lady,” he said.

The group is calling on well-meaning members of the NPP to speak out at the unfairness and injustice perpetrated by the Party national and regional leaderships to avert the disintegration of the Party ahead of the 2024 Presidential Parliamentary elections.