A leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Upper East Region Filson Awankua has suggested to executives of the party and former appointees of the Akufo-Addo administration in the region to take a back seat from the party’s regional leadership.
Awankua believes the former appointees of the NPP’s administration and the regional executives failed the party and must step aside.
“If I was selected to advise them, not only the regional executive, but whoever was part of the eight years of government in the region, they should soberly sit back and reflect and allow new energy, somebody who has the energy to change the face of the region to do that,” he stated in April 17 interview on Dreamz FM.
The now main opposition party’s performance in the region declined significantly in the 2024 elections, with the party losing the only seat it held and failing to win any of the other 14 seats.
Filson Awankua blamed this outcome on ineffective and selfish leadership at the regional level.
He stated that although party folks campaigned vigorously in the region at the peril of their lives, leadership failed to take steps to effectively coordinate and consolidate their efforts.
The regional leadership, he added, also failed to attend to the needs of supporters and ensure opportunities created through government policies trickled down to them, leaving many of them disgruntled.
He further accused some of the regional executives of abandoning their roles and pursuing their selfish political interest while alleging others were focused on wealth accumulation to the detriment of the party and government.
If his counsel were sought on what the next step of the current regional leadership and former appointees should be, Awankua said he would advise them to step aside from leading the party.
“Either they were first vice chair when we moved from three to one, or they were regional organizers, or they were part of the regional secretary, assistant secretary that moved us from three to one to zero. Now, do you want the region to go to negative? Because it may get to a point that nobody will come and vote again.”
