Some members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai Constituency in the Western North Region, are accusing a former Managing Director of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transport Company (BOST) of violating the party’s constitution.
Mr Obeng Boateng, a member of the NPP, who has also submitted forms to contest the Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai Constituency seat, has, per a complaint filed by some leading members of the constituency, been accused of a number of infractions including alleged violations of the duty of a member to protect the unity of the party pursuant to article 3, clause 5A (2) of the NPP’s constitution.
The complainants, Elder Abraham Amoako Asare, chairman of Tanaso NPP; and Kennedy Tano, Breman NPP chairman, state in their nine-page complaint letter to the NPP chairman in the Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai Constituency that, Mr. Obeng-Boateng reportedly failed to adhere to the said clause which enjoins all members of the party to have the right and duty at all times to protect the unity of the party.
Among the many instances cited by the complainants to support their complaint was the accusation that Mr Obeng-Boateng had purportedly formed his own ‘Constituency Executive Committee’ to work in parallel with the legally-elected executives of the party in the constituency.
“This became evident when a plot of land which had been procured by the Hon MP [Kingsley Aboagye Gyedu] to construct party office at Bibiani was trespassed by the ‘Obeng-Boateng Executives’ purporting to use it to construct the same party office,” the petition alleged.
The complainants also accused the former BOST MD of deliberately obstructing the works of delegates by engaging them through his private meetings with them when the said delegates should be involved in official party activities elsewhere.
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Mr Obeng-Boatrng the complainants hold, has supposedly failed to uphold the NPP’s policies publicly as he is enjoined to do by Article 4, Clause 7(1e) of the party’s constitution, citing his decision not to adhere the General Secretary John Boadu’s directive for members interested contesting the party’s parliamentary primary to desist from either overtly or covertly campaigning.
Apart from busing party delegates to his residence in Kumasi for get together periodically, …he has been moving from polling station to polling station; community to community; meeting delegates, donating items such as agro chemicals, clothes, shirts and cash to them, the letter further alleged.
The complainants have, therefore, urged the Constituency Executive Committee to refer Mr Obeng-Boateng’s conduct to the Disciplinary Committee of the party in the constituency, to undertake a full, faithful and impartial inquiry into the matter.
“We recommend that consequently, the party should suspend or expel Mr Obeng-Boateng from the party. This will serve as a deterrent to members who intend to toe the same line in future, restore sanity into the constituency,” the complainants demanded.
Party’s response
In a related development, however, the leadership of the governing party in the constituency has denied receiving any such complaints from the persons named above.
The Constituency Secretary of the NPP, Joseph Halifax Amandeh in a response to a letter written by lawyers of Mr. Obeng-Boateng requesting to find out if indeed the party had constituted a disciplinary committee to look into the said complaint, also denied the existence of such committee.
“As the constituency secretary, I am not privy to when officers referred to under article 7(5) of the constitution were appointed neither do I have records (minutes) to that effect.
“As a member of the constituency executive committee, no such appointments took place in any of our meetings. Furthermore, there are no records to that effect.,” Mr. Amandeh indicated in his letter dated February 17, 2020.