<<Print>>

The much-talked about New Patriotic Party (NPP) regional elections scheduled to take place at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi on Saturday might not come on after all. A High Court in Kumasi ordered on Friday for an interim injunction to be placed on the important process which would have allowed the party to elect its regional officials. Some disgruntled members of the party in the Manhyia North Constituency, reportedly prayed the high court to impose the interim injunction on the NPP elections, which were supposed to start on Saturday morning. The court reportedly ordered that the party leadership�s decision to declare the Manhyia North Constituency elections of the NPP null and void was not proper, hence the injunction placed on the process. The court further ordered that Manhyia North Constituency elected executives of the NPP should be allowed to take part in the elections. Member of Parliament (MP) for Manhyia, Collins Owusu Amankwah said on Hello FM on Friday evening that Manhyia Constituency duly held proper elections so it was not appropriate for the NPP leadership to cancel the polls. He said he was extremely delighted over the decision of the court to place injunction on the polls, contending that the party leadership was unfair to the Manhyia Constituency executives of the NPP. Mr. Amankwah alleged that Lawyer Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie aka �Sir John�, the NPP General Secretary, recently told him that he (Sir John) was misled by Sam Pyne, the Ashanti regional secretary of the NPP, hence the party�s decision to cancel the Manhyia North elections. He said he was expecting the NPP leadership to respect the orders of the court, alleging that some hidden faces in the party were pulling the strings behind the scenes. Meanwhile, Sam Pyne, speaking on the same network, stated emphatically that the elections would take place on Saturday as planned, adding that the party had not received any order from court. He said the party had decorated the venue for the big event, stressing that irrespective of the noise being made around, the elections would take place without any problem. Sam Pyne therefore urged all delegates of the party to troop to KNUST in large numbers and take part in the exercise, stressing that nobody could distract the party from organizing the event. In a related development, Mr Owusu Afriyie, insists it is only an earthquake that could prevent the Ashanti regional NPP from holding the election. According to him, the party had not received any order from court stopping the process from taking place, stressing that the NPP would organize the elections in Kumasi as planned.