Mr. Joseph Mensah, a parliamentary aspirant of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Kwesimintsim Constituency of the Western Region, says he has no intention to contest as an independent candidate in the unlikely event that he is disqualified by the Vetting Committee of the party.
He has, therefore, described as mere speculation, information making rounds in the constituency that if he is disqualified by the Vetting Committee, he would pack bag and baggage and contest as an independent candidate against whichever NPP candidate will emerge as winner of the upcoming parliamentary primary.
Joe Mensah, as he is popularly known in the party, last week filed his nomination to contest against the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Joseph Baidoo-Ansah, in the upcoming parliamentary primary, but five-card bearing members of the party in the constituency, including, the Youth Organiser, Mr. Amartey Bruce, have filed a petition against him challenging his eligibility to contest.
Not only are the petitioners, who are known members in the camp of the incumbent MP, alleging that he is not known in the party, but also claim he forged his voter’s identity card, faked his age and party card among other allegations, and are, therefore, calling on the Vetting Committee to disqualify the challenger.
Addressing a press conference at Takoradi last Friday, Mr. Joe Mensah said he had never considered the idea of running as an independent candidate, irrespective of the outcome of the vetting process. To him the NPP party is bigger than his own personal interest, and as such, he would never deviate from the core values of the party by going independent. Adding: “It is not true I will contest as an independent candidate, even in the unlikely event that I am disqualified from the race.”
Information available to this reporter indicates that the Vetting Committee, which heard the petition, has forwarded the voter’s and party I.D. cards to the Electoral Commission (EC) and National Secretariat of the party respectively for authentication. The Regional Secretary of the party, Charles Bissue, confirmed in a telephone interview with this reporter at the time of filing this report that no decision has been taken on the issue as yet, saying investigations were still ongoing.
Mr. Bissue, however, promised to make the findings of the Vetting Committee on the issue available to this reporter when the investigations are completed. However, this reporter is highly informed that the EC had already cleared the voter I.D. card as authentic. What is left now is for the National Secretariat of the party to release the report of the authenticity of the candidate’s party ID card, which is still under investigation.
Perhaps, it is the delay on the part of the party’s national secretariat to clear Joe Mensah that has set tongues wagging that he intends to contest the constituency seat as an independent candidate. A member of Joe Mensah’s campaign team, Madam Abena Kwalla, who is a former regional Women Organiser of the party, who spoke at the press conference, also denied that Joe Mensah intends to contest as an independent candidate, saying she believes her candidate is the best for the constituency, having worked so hard for the party over the years.
Madam Kwalla pointed out that she was optimistic Joe Mensah would be cleared to contest the primary, because the petitions raised against him would not fly, and urged the delegates in their camp to remain calm and compose themselves. She disclosed that she had confidence in members of the Vetting Committee, who threw out a petition brought against Madam Catherine Afeku, who is seeking to contest the Evalue Gwira Constituency.
Two persons, Michael Owusu and Ambrose Meah, polling station executives of the party, filed a petition asking the Vetting Committee to disqualify Madam Catherine Afeku for flouting party laid down rules. Madam Catherine Afeku, according to the petitioners, on 28th April, 2015, without provocation, made unpalatable remarks about her contender, Professor Kaku Sagary Nokoe, on an Accra-based radio station.
Madam Afeku was reported to have made the remark that her contender does not attend funerals in the area. The reports, according to the petitioners, smacked of hate speech and retrogression of peace within the party, and, therefore, called on the Vetting Committee to disqualify Madam Afeku. However, the committee threw out the petition on the grounds that it lacked substance, which sent Madam Catherine Afeku into a joyous mode.
Nonetheless, Catherine Afeku, who would be crossing swords with Professor Kaku Sagary Nokoe, now has a daunting task to convince the delegates why they should elect her to recapture the seat she lost in the 2012 general elections.
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