NPP Regional Elections Underway

Delegates of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) will be voting across the country to elect executives who will man the affairs of the party at the regional level for the next four years.

The elections are being held from today [Saturday] until Tuesday, April 24.

The polls have however been postponed in the Northern Region and rescheduled to April 28, 2018, because of five outstanding constituency elections.

In the Eastern Region, the delegates Congress for the election of the Regional Executives has commenced at Koforidua with 644 delegates expected to cast their votes.

In all, the six candidates for the positions of Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Organiser, Youth Organiser and Deputy Secretary are going unchallenged whilst four positions: first Vice Chairman, 2nd vice chairman, Women Organiser and Nasara Coordinator are been contested by two, three, three and five candidates respectively.

Out of the 644 delegates, 561 are constituency executives drawn from the 33 constituencies in the region, 16 regional executives, 10 members of the party’s Council of Patrons, 10 from the Council of Elders, 27 MPs with three founding fathers and four members from the National Council.

In the Ashanti Region, 40 candidates are vying for various positions with 909 delegates expected to cast their votes.

Two candidates; the Chairman and the Secretary will go unopposed after their contenders pulled out

Police in the Ashanti Region have said they will deal ruthlessly with anyone who misbehaves at the ongoing congress to elect executives of the NPP in the region.

200 uniformed and plain-clothed officers have been deployed to maintain order at the event grounds. The party’s private security is also complementing the efforts of the police.

Though the event is yet to start officially, Members of Parliament from all 47 constituencies in the region and other supporters of the party are converging at the College of Agriculture Park at Ejura.

Asante Mampong Divisional Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Lavoe said personnel deployed at the grounds will ensure nothing untoward happens.

In the Volta Region, police have also said adequate provisions, in terms of logistics and security, have been made for the exercise.

Despite earlier reports that the exercise may not take place due to a court injunction secured against it by an aggrieved candidate, the Hohoe Divisional Police Commander says his outfit is only aware of an injunction on the election of Chairmen and not the entire process.

He said enough men have been deployed to the centre to ensure a smooth process. He, therefore, warned against any individual or group of persons who may want to foment trouble.

For the Greater Accra Region, the Trade Fair Center in Accra has virtually been transformed into political grounds as aspirants racing for 10 leadership portfolios seek the approval of delegates.

Supporters of the 55 aspirants have been singing and dancing as they share fliers of their candidates.

However, the Okaikoi South and Adenta constituencies are not participating in the elections because of cases pending in court.

The Regional Research and Elections officer of the party, Emmanuel Clottey said to Citi News that the situation will not affect the outcome of the elections. He also intimated that the party has put in place adequate measures to ensure the outcome of the elections are credible, free and fair.

For the Western Region, the delegates conference is taking place at the George Grant University of Mines and Technology in Tarkwa.

In all, 515 delegates are to vote to choose 10 candidates from the 43 aspirants.

The national representative supervising the elections is Peter Mac Manu.