A Parliamentary aspirant of the incumbent National Democratic Congress (NDC), in the Asawase constituency of the Ashanti Region, has accused the Constituency Chairman and Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of campaigning for the incumbent MP, Muntaka Mubarak.
According to Anis Muctar Muhadeen, the MCE and the Constituency Chairman jointly picked up nominations for the incumbent MP.
[contextly_sidebar id=”IRylpOc8fg7QQ4Rps7CqAS0qCOQmMVgi”]The parliamentary aspirant told Citi News the Constituency Chairman is also plotting to get him disqualified from the race.
“How on earth would you have a sitting Municipal Chief Executive at post together with the party constituency chairman walk to pick the nomination forms for an incumbent MP ion the person of Muntaka,” he asked.
He alleged that the Constituency Chairman Alhaji Mutum has been heard on several radio stations in Kumasi, specifically on Ash FM and Zeera FM, telling people that nobody should endorse the forms for any other person.
“… If the Constituency Chairman is doing this then clearly it shows the verdict has already been stolen from the start. And he is still on radio telling people that anybody who picks forms to contest will be blacklisted from the dealings of the party in the constituency and he is openly campaigning for Muntaka.”
However, the incumbent MP, Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak, has flatly denied the allegations that the two men picked his nomination forms although he was not present at the venue.
“I was not there but all I knew is that I have my campaign team and the constituency chairman and the MCE are not part of my campaign. I was not physically there but I sent my campaign team to pick the forms and the constituency executives were in the party office when my team went to pick the forms so I do not know what he is talking about,” he explained.
“I have the interview with the Constituency Chairman where he talks about rules and guidelines clearly stipulating that those contesting must be people who have been active in the constituency over a period. Could it be that he is afraid that he has not been active over the –past four years and therefore he fears the rules may go against him? The Constituency Chairman in my understanding is clearly mentioning what the guidelines are if he says that, we are not going to sit down and allow people to come and mess the constituency; and that I agree with him. We are not going to say that because of competition, you just come and create confusion in the constituency and go away and leave us with the problem” Muntaka noted.
The Asawase constituency, largely inhabited by Muslims, has been one of the safest seats for the NDC, interestingly, in the stronghold of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Muntaka Mubarak, who is seeking reelection, has been the MP since 2005 after he won a by-election to replace a deceased NDC MP.
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By: Ebenezer Afanyi Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana