{"id":106977,"date":"2015-04-10T06:08:40","date_gmt":"2015-04-10T06:08:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=106977"},"modified":"2015-04-10T06:32:13","modified_gmt":"2015-04-10T06:32:13","slug":"npp-ga-policy-not-law-but-a-convention-national-council-member","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/04\/npp-ga-policy-not-law-but-a-convention-national-council-member\/","title":{"rendered":"NPP Ga policy not law but a convention – National Council Member"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) says it is not breaking any law by issuing a directive that only Ga indigenes<\/strong><\/span><\/a> must contest Parliamentary seats in coastal constituencies in the Greater Accra Region.<\/p>\n

[contextly_sidebar id=”yuojeiQ1WxpeyBXnL64L7ldQQ2bWoQNl”]The party also clarified that the directive is a convention but not a clause in any law guiding their operations and activities therefore, no law has being breached.<\/p>\n

This comes on the back of comments made by Philip Addison; lawyer for NPP flagbearer, Nana Akufo-Addo in the 2012 election petition who is contesting the Korle Klottey constituency seat that the party\u2019s directive on Ga indigenes is unconstitutional.<\/p>\n

But a member of the NPP National Council, Ishmael Ashittey, on Eyewitness News<\/strong>\u00a0said the convention which created controversies in recent weeks was started in 1992 up until the year 2000 when it was shelved.<\/p>\n

Ashittey, who doubles as the Greater Accra Regional chairman of the NPP said it has however become necessary for the convention to be enforced once again because available statistics indicate that \u201cGas have been outnumbered by other tribes in their own land.\u201d<\/p>\n

He stressed that the NPP is \u201cdoing politics and our constitution tells us to consider regional balance so if we will give an opportunity for the people of the Ga area to allow their Parliamentary seats to be taken by other tribes, then it means NPP is alienating from the party and from partisan politics and this will not speak well of a party with the type and the size of the NPP.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe consciously should find a way to keep all regional people in the party and this has been one of the ways we have been doing it since 1992,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Ayittey further clarified that the directive which has only been put on hold will be implemented and when implementation begins, it will be enforced in only 13 out of the 34 constituencies in the region which are purely Ga communities.<\/p>\n

He nonetheless mentioned that \u201cif we get to a constituency and we realise that there is somebody there who is not a Ga but has stayed at the place for a very long time and that the Ga\u2019s themselves recognize him as one of them, we cannot prevent that person from contesting an election.\u201d<\/p>\n

Implementation.<\/p>\n

The NPP Greater Accra Region Chair said the convention will be implemented through a bargaining system.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will go out there and bargain with people after we have decided that a particular candidate should contest, we will bargain with the others and we will offer them some other opportunities in future if we come to power. So we are not using force.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By: Efua Idan Osam\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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