An aspirant for the position of National Youth Organiser of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Henry Nana Boakye, has rubbished suggestions of ethnic bias in the party’s National Executive structure.
According to him, there has been no deliberate attempt to marginalize persons from other ethnic groups in the filling of key positions in the party.
His reaction comes on the back of claims that the party is favouring candidates from the “Akan sub-group.”
Speaking on Happy FM’s Epa Hoa Daben show, Nana B described these assertions as mere propaganda.
“It’s a misplaced argument. For me, I’ll go by the constitution which is very clear that the party should have regional balance in terms of the leaders. This is a democracy, everyone is allowed to contest. If you go through the aspirants, you’ll get party people from Greater Accra, from the Volta Region, from the Western Region, from the Central Region, from the Brong Ahafo, Ashanti, Northern, Upper East and the Upper West Regions.”
He however stated that, aside the elections, the party had put other systems in place including appointing persons to certain positions in the party to ensure regional balance.
“That is the more reason that we’ve taken the strategic position, and it’s also stated in our Constitution that after we have elected them, we also have appointments positions where the National Executive body sits and appoints. It is not as if we have told certain people not to contest. I can give names of people representing and coming from different regions as well. Clearly it’s propaganda and probably thrown in out of mischief and we’re not going to buy into it.”
The NPP will be going to the polls July 7 at Koforidua in the Eastern Region, to elects its National Executive of the party.
By: Joseph Nii Ankrah
NPP is not an ethnic bias party – Nana B
