Concerned Patriots of Bawku, a youth wing sympathetic to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Bawku Municipality of the Upper East Region, has appealed to the national executive council of the party to initiate processes to reinstate the suspended General Secretary of the party, Mr Kwabena Agyei Agyapong.
They indicated that the suspension of Mr Kwabena Agyapong and some party executive members was meant to serve as a warning and punishment to the culprits and a deterrent to others, and not as a conduit to get rid of people who were deemed or perceived to have done wrong.
“A suspension is not and should not practically mean the same thing as dismissal and we think this party of all, should be competently able to distinguish the difference.”
Defiance to decision
Speaking at a press conference at Bawku, the spokesperson of the group, Mr Abdulai Muntaka, said even though Mr Agyapong disagreed with the suspension, he accepted it and had conducted himself well and not defied the decision of the party.
The press conference was attended by some polling station executives, the Nasara coordinators in the Bawku area, some party youth groups and a cross-section of NPP supporters in the Bawku Municipality.
They noted that his conduct before and after his suspension had demonstrated not only his unconditional love for the party, but a testimony to the fact that he wanted to see the party return to power in the 2020 general election.
“For the fact that even in his suspension, he went ahead to aid the party in his own small way by donating GH¢2,000 to some constituencies across the country some few weeks to the elections and for the same reason, the disciplinary committee recommended that he be suspended for 15 months and the others indefinitely, we think he has acted sufficiently enough in good faith and deserves a call back to his elected position.”
No one indispensable
They said even though no one was indispensable in the party, they must not forget the efforts and contributions of people such as Mr Agyapong in making the party what it is today and that they should not allow animosity and vindictiveness to divide the party that was built on the principles of diverse opinions and togetherness.
Mr Muntaka said the party had come a long way and it should not be this time that they should feign innocence of the various roles played by people in building the party as that could be dangerous for their quest to get people to sacrifice for the party.
“It is worth mentioning after all that, our call is necessary and worth it, especially at a time the party is going through various processes to amend its constitution. For it would not speak well of the party to have its elected General Secretary on suspension while the party’s constitution goes through amendment processes.”
Mr Muntaka bemoaned the competencies of some of the leadership of the party by saying that aside the policies and the delivery of the promises by the government, the grass roots were not happy with happenings under the current leadership of the party.
“We have been underrepresented, underserved and our concerns are hardly given the necessary attention. The party leadership as it is now is almost always nonchalant about the distress of the grass roots on many issues and it is our hope that this all-important matter of Mr Kwabena Agyei Agyapong is not treated with such attitude.”
Source: Daily Graphic
