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In what observers see as startling, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Bernard Antwi Boasiako (WONTUMI) and the acting regional secretary, Lawyer Adom Appiah are alleged to have imposed two persons who failed to secure the needed numbers in the just ended Juaben constituency elections to be part of the newly elected executives.
The imposed persons were incumbents in the 2nd Vice-chairmanship and Constituency secretary position contest but incidentally were in a tie with new entrants in the vote count.
The two regional executives, ‘’Wontumi” and Adom Appiah are reported to have said they want the incumbents in the secretary and vice-chairman polls to be retained in their previous executive positions because it is a convention in the NPP.
Perhaps what is baffling is that the acting regional secretary, Lawyer Adom Appiah who is carrying this illegality out in connection with the Chairman is a learned lawyer and human rights advocate.
ILLEGALITY:
Since this infamous announcement, the regional secretary has refused to pick phone calls for clarification on the matter.
He has also refused to show the convention in the New Patriotic Party constitution that states that in an event of a tie in elections the incumbent should be made to take up the position at under contest.
The regional secretary, for about two days, is yet to reply to a letter sighted by this reporter from the Member of Parliament for Juaben, Ama Pomaa Boateng who is asking for a clarification on the matter.
BACKGROUND:
In the Juaben elections, the second vice-chairmanship position was contested by incumbent Charles Kwaku Boateng and Joseph Asare who incidentally secured the same votes of 233, a result that meant that it was a tie requiring a run-off poll to determine who is elected to represent as an executive.
And in the constituency secretary election, Nicholas Donkor, first time contender secured 232 votes with the incumbent Richard Adu Gyamfi garnering the same 232 votes.
But despite the tie in the two positions, no word of a run-off was heard either from the national or regional representative on the elections committee.
CONTROVERSY:
However, two days after the elections, this outfit was privy to information that the Regional Chairman, Bernard Antwi Bosiako wants the incumbents to remain at the positions they contested for.
This, our investigations reveal, is because the two incumbents have sworn to vote for the ‘bullying’ regional chairman in the upcoming regional elections.
Despite arranging for a meeting with those who contested against his preferred incumbents at his radio station, there was a stalemate because both Nichoals Donkor and Joseph Asare insisted that they needed a run-off to settle the matter.
This was after the chairman is reported to have tried compensating the two with some appointments within the executives of Juaben.