NPP founding member dares party leaders, goes independent

Mr. Bright Wireko-Brobbey a founding member and a member of Hemang-Lower Denkyira Constituency branch of New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Sunday declared his intention to contest the Parliamentary seat as an independent candidate in the December 2008 general elections.Speaking at a press conference at Cape Coast, he said the decision was arrived at after deep and sober reflections over an unfair and unjustifiable treatment meted out to him, in particular and all Hemang Lower Denkyira NPP supporters in general by the NPP Hemang Lower Denkyira Constituency Executives with the connivance and support of, especially the Central Regional NPP chairman.Mr. Wireko-Brobbey said as true NPP faithful, “I filed my papers to contest the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP), Mr. Ben Donkor, not because of my selfish ambition of becoming a Member of Parliament but simply because of loss of faith and confidence in the incumbent MP by supporters and other political stakeholders, including Traditional Authorities, Assembly Members, men, women, students and other youth groups across the Constituency.”Mr. Wireko-Brobbey, who is a Development Consultant and currently with Care International said, realizing that a disgraceful defeat awaited them should there be primaries, “the constituency executives who had formed an enclave and very reluctant to allow any eligible person to contest Mr Donkor, denied knowing me.The stated on my nomination forms that they had not known me in the party for two years.Meanwhile “I have been a member of the party since 1992, and even contested the position of District Chief Executive together with four others in 2005.”He said, “seeing that the constituency executives had been unfair to me, Mr Lord Commey, who happened to chair the vetting committee, referred both the executives and myself to a mediation committee to arrive at a just and an amicable solution and this committee was chaired by one prominent and respected party father known as Nana Awuku”.He said, the mediation committee on two occasions recommended that the primaries in Hemang Lower Denkyira be organized after which the losing contestants will support the winner to move the campaign to a greater height. That advice according to him from was blatantly disregarded by the constituency executive.He said, the incumbent MP was introduced as the party’s parliamentary candidate at the NPP’s Kasoa rally when no primaries or acclamation was done to sekect him.That he said was a slap in the face of the NPP constitution in Article 11 (1), 11 (6) and 12 (7) which do not permit a declaration when primaries or acclamations have not been held at the constituency level.Mr Wireko-Brobbey said, this once again demonstrated the imposition of a candidate on the people of the constituency and also an entrenched position taken right from the opening of nominations.He urged all eligible voters, to take advantage of the on-going registration exercise to get registered and vote massively for him to register his vindication that, “indeed, I am the people’s choice and that true and sustainable development comes from the people and not from regional and national executives.”