A leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Upper East Region Filson Awankua has eviscerated some regional executives of the party for running for parliamentary seats while holding on to key leadership positions in the 2024 elections.
Elvis Atia Awonekai, a Regional Secretary and Charles Taleog Ndanbon, a Regional Organizer, both entered the parliamentary race in the 2024 elections, seeking the mandate of the people of Bolgatanga Central and Nabdam respectively to represent them in Parliament.
But not only did they lose their bids, the party lost the Binduri seat, the only seat it was holding and failed to win any seat in the region.
Speaking months after the general elections, Filson Awankua, who led a group of volunteers to campaign for the party and its flagbearer in the elections, described the decisions of the two executives to pursue their parliamentary ambitions while holding on to such key leadership positions as irresponsible, insane and greedy.
“Certain decisions by certain individuals who contested holding regional exposition and contesting parliamentary seats, that was the most insane and irresponsible act by any individual.”
As executives, Awankua argued that they had the responsibility of leading and coordinating campaign activities of the party in all the constituencies of the region.
However, their quests to be parliamentarians distracted them from effectively executing the party’s campaign in the region, adding to its woes in the region ahead of the polls and resulting in the heavy defeat it suffered both in the parliamentary and presidential elections, he argued.
He contended that a responsible leadership would have stepped down when they decided to run for Parliament or scout for marketable candidates to run on the party’s ticket in those areas if they felt those interested were not suitable.
“Are you saying that in your constituency, you cannot identify anybody who is equally good but that you are the most intelligent, it’s even an insult to the people you are leading. And now you get stranded,” he stated.
“You are not able to manage it too well because as a regional executive, you are supposed to manage all constituencies under you. You’ve got zero there. Your own seat too, you lost it terribly compared to previous elections.”
He also took those who supported the two in their quest to be parliamentarians, questioning, “are you really NPP?”
