The Third National Vice Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Alhaji Osman Masawudu, has said the party will not sanction its MP who declared he would resign if the party failed to retain the Akwatia seat in the recent by-election.
Speaking on The Verdict by Isaac Addae on Starr FM, Masawudu clarified that the MP’s remarks reflected the high level of confidence within the party rather than an act of indiscipline.
“We have no caution or sanction to our MP for saying that if we didn’t win Akwatia he has to resign, because you know, the level of confidence all of us had for the Akwatia by-election… Even if it was me, I would have said more than what he said,” Masawudu remarked.
The comment was made by the MP for New Juabeng, Michael Okyere Baafi, during the Akwatia election period.
READ: “Akwatia still remains safe for NPP” – Masawudu Osman
Masawudu emphasized that the NPP considered Akwatia a traditional stronghold, recalling the party’s victory in the 2024 general elections despite what he described as intimidation and ballot destruction by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
“At that time it was clear the NDC had taken the presidential lead and control of the country. So I think we have seen Akwatia seat as a safe seat for us. It’s a seat our MP won even though he faced challenges from the NDC when they were pushing him, sending him to court here and there. It had finally been declared for the NPP,” he said.
He further explained that following the death of Ernest Kumi, the late MP for Akwatia, the NPP believed voters would show sympathy to his family by retaining the seat for the party.
“Seventeen days of our NPP in Parliament and the sad incident, this sad exit, came to him and he passed away. So we thought the people of Akwatia would look at the sad event that hit the family of Ernest Kumi and use it as condolences to vote for the NPP,” he noted.
Beyond sympathy, Masawudu stressed that the NPP’s record in government since 2017 should have been sufficient to convince the electorate.
“We were looking at the massive infrastructure, the development projects, that the NPP did. The NPP record is clear. We were thinking the people of Akwatia would look at the records of their brothers and sisters, to look at all the things that we did,” he added.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh/Barbara Yeboah
