Zita Hubby In Trouble

A leading member of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Okaikoi North constituency, Christian Tetteh, has sued the party�s recently elected parliamentary candidate for the area, Andrew Okaikoi, calling for his disqualification. Former Information Minister, Zita Okaikoi�s husband�s candidature had earlier been described as problematic by the NDC vetting committee and had therefore been disqualified before he was later allowed to contest the primary. Zita lost in her bid to represent the party in the Dome Kwabenya constituency where she had stood as the NDC candidate for the 2008 elections. Mr Okaikoi�s accuser said the chairman of the National Disability Council was not qualified because he did not meet the residency clause and also had question marks hanging around his neck. Also joined in the suit are the NDC as a party, and Augustus Ken Eshun, who also contested but lost the parliamentary primary to Andrew Okaikoi. In a writ filed on December 14, 2011 by Nkrabeah and Associates, the plaintiff is seeking a declaration from the court to disqualify Mr Okaikoi, popularly called �Double Double�, and Augustus Eshun from contesting the primaries of the party whilst asking for a re-run of the electoral contest. He claims the candidate who, among five others, contested the Okaikoi North constituency primary of the NDC, breached Article 43 clause 9(b) and Article 43 clauses 4, 5 and 6 of the constitution. He premised his argument on the fact that the Regional Vetting Committee wrote a report in which it stated that �Andrew Okaikoi�s candidature in our opinion will pose many challenges to the party and at best be an albatross around the neck of the party.� Mr Okaikoi, also known as �Connection Man�, beat the likes of Abdul Nasiru Abass, a business mogul and one-time parliamentary candidate, Kweku Eshun and another person who were thought to be popular in the constituency. He defied the odds to beat his contenders with 237 votes as against his closest rival, Nasiru�s 158. Eshun, who has held the ticket before and was believed to have the backing of the presidency after jumping from the Rawlings camp, where he had contested Johnson Asiedu-Nketia for the position of NDC General Secretary in Tamale in 2010, managed an abysmal 10 votes whilst Simon Quaye polled 50 votes. But disappointed and discontent supporters of Nasiru spelled the NDC�s doom since they could not fathom why a person like Mr Okaikoi, who they said was not popular in the area and allegedly surrounded with shady deals, would be their parliamentary candidate. They thus threatened not to vote for the NDC in the 2012 general elections since the party was now in disarray. This and others are believed to have influenced Mr Tetteh, who happens to be the secretary of the Blessed Home branch of the party in Akweteman Ward�s decision to seek an order of injunction from the court to restrain Mr Okaikoi from holding himself out as the NDC Parliamentary candidate for the constituency. In the case of Augustus Eshun, Christian Tetteh alleged that he used forged signatures on his nomination forms. In spite of all these flaws, he noted that the primaries went ahead on 26th November 2011 and Andrew Okaikoi and Augustus Ken Eshun were allowed to take part in it, with Andrew Okaikoi being declared the eventual winner. In compliance with the grievance procedure in the NDC constitution, Christian Tetteh said members of the party including himself wrote a petition to the National Executive Committee of the party but nothing came out of it. He therefore noted that �unless this court steps in to right the wrong, the fortunes of the party will suffer terribly as stated in the report of the Regional Vetting Committee.� He is therefore asking for the re-run of the constituency election, with the previous one being declared null and void.