President Kufuor, on Tuesday, expressed his sadness about the ongoing internal strife that has characterized the NPP primaries.

In a two hour meeting with the top hierarchy of the NPP at the Castle, Osu, the President said, “I am not happy at all about what is happening in our party.

”The meeting was attended by NPP presidential Candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo, Party Chairman, Mr. Mac Manu, General Secretary, Nana Ohene Ntow, Mr. B. J. Da Rocha, Mr. Samuel Odoi-Sykes and other elders of the NEC.

Accra Daily Mail (ADM) sources at the Castle disclosed that “it was not the President alone who expressed his sadness about the situation, everyone was really not happy about what is happening”.

The President, according to one of the sources, reminded the members of how crucial the December election was to the party. “These problems must be solved as soon as possible”, the president is reported to have said. Nana A kufo-Addo, who returned only this past weekend from a two-week tour of Canada and the United States, briefed the President on some of the steps he had taken to address some of the problems. “At the end of the meeting all the elders of the NEC saw the need to quickly solve these problems before the party launches its Campaign in August”, the source said. Some of the elders also called for a review of the party’s constitution, which allowed all positions to be contested for. The decision to allow some prominent Cabinet Ministers to go unopposed in the future was also discussed.

“What would have happened to the image of the party, if someone like the Finance Minister had lost his seat at his constituency during the primary election”, an elder is reported to have asked. President Kufuor, according to the source, reaffirmed his support for Nana Akufo-Addo.

“He said he is pursuing policies and programmes that would enable him hand over power to Nana”, the source said. Before the meeting yesterday, Nana Akufo Addo had met with aspirants of Okoi Koi North, South and Okai-Koi South at the Greater Accra Regional Office to discuss how to solve the problems in the two constituencies.

Though no concrete solution came out, some members have been persuaded to step down. “The problem at Okai-Koi South constituency is a serious one…It is between the National Executives and the Regional Executives. Whereas the National Executives want Akomea, the Regional Executives want Vicky Bright, so it’s hard for the constituency to decide who should be elected”, the source said.