All is not well for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Akontombra Constituency of the Western Region as the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for the area threatens to contest the 2016 election as an independent candidate.
Mr. Herold Cobbina who lost the NDC parliamentary primary last year to one Kenneth Yeboah, confirmed on Liberty Fm in Sefwi Akontombra yesterday that he would run for the constituency parliamentary slot in the upcoming election as an independent candidate.
His decision follows a pile of resentments from some NDC members in the constituency who believe that the party’s last year primary was fraught with anomalies, a situation they believe, denied the incumbent from retaining the party’s slot.
Notable among these resentments was a suit filed by some three members of the party at the Sefwi Wiawso High Court, seeking to nullify the primary that elected Kenneth Yeboah as the NDC candidate.
The writ, filed by one Nana Kwaku Duah, Mark Ankorah, a Former Constituency Youth Organizer, and William Ofori, Chairman of Manoma West Polling Station and a member of the Constituency Disciplinary Committee, was believed to have been supported by about 14,000 NDC members in the constituency.
However, after several months of legal battle, the court dismissed the case on grounds that the petitioners have no capacity to pursue the matter.
Speaking to The New Crusading GUIDE in a telephone interview yesterday, Spokesperson for Mr. Herold Cobbina, Nana Kwaku Duah, said the MP was compelled to run as an independent candidate because of how the party had treated him.
He maintained that the primary was fraught with anomalies and skewed to favour Mr. Kenneth Yeboah.
He accused the Former District Chief Executive (DCE) for the area, Mr. Peter Nkoah, for allegedly registering members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to vote against the incumbent MP in the primary.
“Aside that, they deleted the names of about 300 NDC members in the strongholds of Mr. Cobbina just to ensure that he lost the primary. It’s not fair”, he said.
According to him, “the campaign team of Mr. Cobbina never got a copy of the party’s voter register which was used for the election until the final day of the election”.
Nana Kwaku Duah alleged that the whole episode was a scheme designed by some party kingpins including some regional executives to get rid of the incumbent MP.
Notwithstanding that, he said, majority of voters in the constituency were still behind Mr. Cobbinah and would vote for him in the upcoming election to enable him retain the seat.
However, some political observers are predicting that the NPP Candidate for the area, Mr. Alex Tetteh, might romp through the elections to victory if the MP carries out his threat of contesting as an independent candidate.
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