Press Release

NPP TESCONA

March 28, 2015

NEC DECISION! A RECIPE FOR DEFEAT IN 2016

We write to register our displeasure to the numerous calls made by several electioneering experts as well as legal brains on the recent decision made by our eminent National Executive Council (NEC) stating that;

1. No male or man would be allowed to contest any parliamentary seat currently occupied by a female or woman of the party.

2. Some coastal constituencies in the greater Accra region should only be contested by indigenous Gas.

3. An amount of 20,000 cedis should be paid as development fees.

Without any shred of disrespect to the national executives committee, we vehemently oppose to the above conclusions they arrived on Monday 23-03-2015 on the bases that;

1. Some female MPs have lost popularity in their constituencies and are most likely to lose their seats as per our trend analysis throughout the period. Their votes keep decreasing even though it is a traditional seat for the NPP. Our research shows that seats like; Oforikrom, Tema west, Tarkwa Nsuaem, Lower West Akyem, Abirem, Okaikwei North just to mention a few are on the verge of crossing to the other side of the political divide. We therefore, as a political party, cannot hide behind affirmative action and substitute it with our ever thirsty victory in 2016. We cannot sacrifice the collective good of our party for some select few MPs whose action/inaction is making them lose their seats. We should not encourage independent candidates.

2. Secondly, the 1992 constitution, which is the supreme law governing our nation, states clearly in chapter 5, Article 12(2) that; "Every person in Ghana, whatever his race, place of origin, political opinion, color, religion, creed or gender shall be entitled to the fundamental human rights and freedom of the individual contained in this chapter but subject to respect for the rights and freedom of others and for the public interest". This action by our party leadership is a direct contradiction to the laws of our land and we cannot allow this to go on as we claim to be the doyens of Ghana Politics. We urge our leaders to respect the constitution of the land as well as each other's fundamental human rights.

3. That, the amount to be paid as development fee must either be expunged or all aspirants must be allowed to pay that amount. This is because we foresee some level of insecurity or threat of new entrants which will not help the party in any way, but rather would gradually worsen our chances of winning the 2016 general elections.

We once again reiterate that, the decision made by NEC is unpopular, against the laws of Ghana and clearly flouts the human rights of Ghanaians. We believe in equal rights and justice. Let us not sacrifice our collective good for the interest of some few MPs who have become unpopular due to their action/inaction. The NPP supports Affirmative action thus our decision to give all women 50% discount on filing fees.

Long Live Ghana

Long Live NPP

Long Live Tescona

---------Signed---------

KWAME-POKU ADU-GYAMFI

(Director of Communications 0242647919/0200456093)

EMMANUEL TWENEBOA- KODUA

(National Secretary 0247102919)