Article 19 of the New Patriotic Party (NPP)’s Constitution states unequivocally that:
Every amendment to this Constitution shall be made at the National Annual Delegates Conference, provided, however, that no amendment shall be made unless:
a. notice of such amendment has been submitted in writing to the General Secretary not later than two (2) months before the National Delegates Conference;
b. the General Secretary has circulated the proposed amendment to every Regional and Constituency office at least one (1) month before the National Annual Conference; and,
c. at least two thirds (2/3) of the delegates at the National Annual Delegates Conference cast their votes in favour of the amendment.
This provision clearly vests the power to amend the Party’s Constitution in the National Conference, the Party’s highest making body.
At the Party’s last National Executive Committee Meeting held last Wednesday, December 15, 2021 in Accra ahead of the Party’s National Conference scheduled for Kumasi on Sunday, December 20, 2021, there were moves to subvert the power of the Conference so that proposals for Constitutional Amendments will be ceded to the National Executive Committee.
Available information indicates that the Party’s National Executive Committee has decided NOT TO Discuss proposals for Constitutional Amendments at the upcoming Conference with the excuse that the proposed amendments are so many it will take Conference possibly one week of sitting and deliberations to make sense of the proposed amendments.
The NEC will, therefore, seek the mandate of the Conference to cede the authority to amend and pass the “New” clauses and/or changes to NEC.
Some have described this move as a coup to subvert and undermine due process by the party that prides itself in The Rule of Law.
Should such a move succeed, party members are likely to find a new constitution with provisions that are totally opposed to common sense, good governance and the Rule of Law.
Indeed, party people may wake up after conference to realise that they may have agreed to a constitution to the destruction of their own party.
NPP members should wake up to these unholy attempts by some self seeking people in the party to pursue their evil agenda at all costs.
Originally, there were 99 proposals and the Review Committee sanitized them to 38 which, are supposed to be presented to the Conference. Even that, why would the party want to undertake 38 constitutional amendments in a one-day conference?
What are all these 38 amendments about? Are all these supposed amendments so critical to the party’s electoral fortunes? Are these amendments the most important thing the Party needs to undertake in order to get UNITED to break the eight (8) in 2024? How would they help NPP win elections 2024?
They’re all simply meant to manipulate the presidential primaries for one man. This is certainly a recipe for disaster for the NPP should the party proceed along this tangent.
Who is bewitching NPP, if I may ask? If they don’t rethink their steps, the party may come out of the Kumasi conference more divided with deep ill-feelings. That’s the surest way incumbent parties lose elections ahead of time.
By: Raymond Ablorh writes
