The Upper East Regional Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Lawyer Anthony Namoo, has indicated that Boniface Gambila was removed as Upper East Regional Minister under John Agyekum Kufour because of his refusal to support the bid of Alan Kyerematen to become the flagbearer.
According to him, other appointees, including the then Tanlesi-Dabdam District Chief Executive, Sabastian Tibil Bisinab, lost their positions for allegedly not supporting the bid of Alan Kyerematen, but that cannot be equated to what is happening in the party today, as members are allowed to freely support their preferred candidates.
‘”Boniface Gambila was told that you either support Alan Kyerematen or we remove you, and he said that I wouldn’t go that way, and he was removed as Upper East Regional Minister”, he stated.
“In 2007, but regrettably, is a history, and we have to say it, the DCE then for Tanlesi-Nabdam, Sabastian Tibil Bisinab, may his soul rest in peace. This was a hard-working party man, true and true Busia Danquah; he used to be in Suyani, and even there he was elected as an Assemblyman; he was later appointed a DCE; his wife died, and subsequently his son got burned.
People who thought that he was following the current president, then candidate, got him removed. Can you imagine that you were a DCE in the course of the election, and because people have heard that this is your opinion, he was removed notwithstanding the wife and the son had died, so subsequently the man got stroked and died”, he added.
Lawyer Anthony was responding to allegations by Alan Kyerematen that his supporters were intimidated and the Party’s Super Delegates Conference was strategically and tactically skewed to favor one aspirant.
He emphasized that the NPP has evolved over time and is an open party where people express their independent opinions, unlike other parties where people hardly get the chance to express themselves.
“Can you imagine that the general secretary says that we will do a press conference the next day? But you saw that a lot of people were commenting that evening; nobody even minded the general secretary. Only a few people will talk and say that the general secretary said we would do a press conference, but if the general secretary came out with a statement, you expected that all members would be mute about it and wait for the party`s position, but that is NPP for you”, he stated.
The Regional Chairman stressed that he finds it difficult to agree that someone was forced to do otherwise, though “there may be persuasions that vote this way or that way, but not that kind of force at all because in this party you can`t force anybody against his or her will”.
Source: A1radioonline.Com|101.1MHz|Gilbert Azeem Tiroog
