More Groups To Emerge In NPP

The New Patriotic Party (NPP), in the coming days, weeks and months, will witness the emergence of more factional groupings within the party. It is the groups that would do the bidding of the party gurus who are interested in contesting for various positions in the party, including the flagbearership slot. Over the years, political parties in Ghana have used groupings in both party and national elections. As witnessed in 2007 and 2011, most of the candidates who contested for the flagbearer position used such groupings. This time round, candidates for various positions would be coming forward based on various calls from those groups. But party insiders are scared of divisions within the party as to how well the groups would go about things. In the run-up to the search for a flagbearer for the 2012 Presidential election, there was a great deal of animosity within the NPP because of groupings. Various groupings came up either supporting Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo or Mr. Alan Kwadwo Kyeremanten. The party insiders told The Enquirer newspaper that what is very dangerous for the party is the fact that most of the people interested in various positions use the groups to do lots of dirty work underground. In 2008 and 2012, attacks from various groups supporting candidates were so common as to suggest that the race to get a flagbearer for the NPP was more than a national election. According to insiders, it is clear that underground work for positions has stated and the party should not wait for people to start throwing mud at another before coming out with measures. �We all know those who are interested in becoming flagbearers, chairman and others and how they will use various interest groups, but we should fashion out things for the sake of unity in the party,,� they said. There was so much tension in the NPP in 2007 in the run-up to its congress at Legon in Accra to get a flagbearer for the party to contest the 2008 elections. At the time, although there were 17 candidates, the high tension was between Nana Akufo-Addo and Mr. Kyeremanten. In 2011, the story was the same and some young followers of the two candidates went overboard and threw vulgar language at one another. The party insiders were of the view that such groupings would always be in politics, but it was important to regulate their activities. The insiders told The Enquirer that such groupings in no small way caused the party in 2008 and 2012 and must not be allowed to do their own thing, this time round.