Release

NPP, April 15, 2013

NPP boycotts Kumbungu By-election - Sir John explains why

The General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party, Kwadwo “Sir John” Owusu Afriyie, has confirmed in an exclusive interview with the New Statesman that the NPP will not file a candidate for the Kumbungu by-election slated for April 30.

This, according to Sir John, is consistent with the position of the National Council of the party which decided on January 2 to suspend its participation in future elections organised by the Electoral Commission until further notice.

In answer to a question on whether or not the NPP had lost total fate in the capacity of the EC, as presently constituted to conduct all future elections, Sir john noted that it would be wrong to conclude that way, especially since the NPP is committed to complying with any decision that the Supreme Court will give in the presidential election petition currently before the court.

“In any case, the party is not disputing in court the majority of the parliamentary elections held last December. But, we have identified, through the diligent work of our crack team of election results analysis, some very serious problems with the way the 2012 general elections were conducted and we want to see that improved and it will not take a lot of radical changes to see much of that improvement implemented in any event,” he said.

The NPP General Secretary continued, “fundamentally, the party has a major problem with the way the presidential election was conducted and the case in court should certainly have a bearing on how future elections are conducted.”

He said the NPP Is not saying much about electoral reforms now because that may prejudice the court case.

He said, the party, after the ruling, will continue in its “time-honoured tradition over the last two decades of leading the way in proposing reforms to help enhance the credibility and integrity of elections organized in our country.”

Sir John disclosed exclusively to the New Statesman that the party had put together a small team, whose membership includes former National Chairman Peter Mac Manu, to come up with a report that looks at the problems that were identified with the conduct of the 2012 elections and come up with the kind of proposals both short term and long term on how the EC can be reformed to help it undertake its work more competently and credibly.

The Party’s scribe however indicated that for the party to either act on or disclose the content of the report submitted by the special team may be prejudicial to the ongoing court case challenging the validity of the declaration of John Mahama as winner of the December 2012 race.

Sir John pleaded with supporters of the party and the general public to exercise patience and trust in the judgment of the party leadership for refusing to contest in by-elections for the time being.

“From what even NDC lawyers have been saying publicly the presidential election petition may be over in 2 months. Our the 3rd relief is asking the Supreme Court to make any orders as it may deem fit; so it is important we wait and see what the Supreme Court says and then we can all take it from there,” he stressed.

Sir John admitted that the boycott of parliamentary by-elections may work against the party, especially if it involves foregoing by-elections in winnable seats. “But, we have taken a principled stance on this and see this as a necessary price to pay in our all-important push to ensure the credibility and integrity of elections in the country in the long term. The future of Ghana’s election is more important to us than any short-term parliamentary advantage like winning a by-election,” he argued.

“We believe that’s a small price to pay in the interim for the more important project of the long term credibility and integrity of elections in Ghana. It may hurt us in the short term but we are

prepared to make that sacrifice for the sake of maintaining a principled, consistent stance to enhance the credibility of elections in Ghana,“ Sir John stated.

The NPP General Secretary made it clear in his interview that the NPP party is not interested in bastardizing the EC, and that the party is rather interested in ensuring free, fair, transparent and credible elections in Ghana.

“It is not our mission to throw the baby away with the dirty water. We are interested in having a clean system so that the true democratic will of the people will always be respected, protected and declared,” he added.

He noted that the NPP is fully aware that the EC is a creation of the Constitution, but pointed out that the Constitution has never served as a fetter to proposals to enhancing the quality of the work of the Commission, stressing that the NPP will continue with its proud tradition of being at the forefront of proposals to make our democracy better “for the peace, stability and development of our beloved Ghana.”

Commenting on the case at the Supreme Court, Sir John said that the evidence presented by the petitioners to the court is clear for everybody to see that there are issues to resolve in court.

“In any event even before the court had looked at the evidence and ruled on them, the Chairman of the EC himself, his deputies and other senior staff have been going round the country conceding that there were grave errors with the way the election was conducted. Of course, it’s been convenient for them to blame casual workers rather than themselves. But, it’s our contention that all is not well at all with the system and that must be fixed. Some of these reforms which we are identifying can be easily implemented but as I said earlier we do not want to prejudge the court case and will therefore hold on for the Supreme Court to speak first.”

He begged supporters of the NPP and the general public to bear with the leadership of the NPP on the decision not to contest the pending by-election because “we are not going on this boycott for our partisan interest but for the sake of Ghana’s democracy.”

NPP Communications Directorate
NPP Headquarters, Asylum Down. Accra.

Dep. Director: Curtis Perry K. Okudzeto
(024-9679008)