Politics of Tuesday, 2 February 2021

Source: GNA

I didn’t cause NPP’s loss in La-Dadekotopon constituency – Sowah Odotei

Vincent Sowah Odotei, former Member of Parliament (MP) for the La-Dadekotopon Constituency Vincent Sowah Odotei, former Member of Parliament (MP) for the La-Dadekotopon Constituency

Vincent Sowah Odotei, former Member of Parliament (MP) for the La-Dadekotopon Constituency, has denied claims by delegates of the New Patriotic Party, alleging that he caused the loss of the party in the 2020 parliamentary election.

The delegates in the constituency on Friday, January 29, 2021, held a news conference to disclose a petition they intended to submit to the Regional Chairman of the Party about some alleged misconducts on the part of the former MP which they believed cost the Party the seat.

The allegations included paying people money to vote for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, going on a spree together with family and workers when results were declared that the NPP had lost its seat, describing projects he spearheaded as his personal enterprise and not that of the NPP.

They also claimed that he commissioned his followers to collate innocent people’s data with the impression of making them delegates in the next compilation of constituency album even though the General Secretary of the NPP had not given any directive to that effect.

The delegates also said Mr Sowah refused to publicly dissociate himself from the then NDC’s Parliamentary Candidate’s call on him to join his campaign since his candidature was rejected by the delegates during primaries.

“Our independent investigations have proven that the former MP clandestinely sponsored and also covertly campaigned for the NDC candidate on the grounds that they are from the same clan,” their petition read.

Mr Odotei, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, said the petition was only copied from a petition submitted to the Regional Chairman of the Party by the Municipal Chief Executive of La Dadekotopon Municipal Assembly, Reverend Solomon Kotey Nikoi, the Acting Constituency Chairman, Mr Kingsley Addison and the then Parliamentary Candidate, Mr Gerald Tetteh Nyanyofio dated 19th November 2020.

He said he responded to the petition, meanwhile, he would not respond to these allegations from the delegates.

In a statement copied to the media as a comment over the allegations, Mr Odotei said: “I wish to state that as a gesture of respect to the party structures and in order not to do anything which will bring the name of the party into disrepute, I will not respond directly to the allegations contained in their press release since I have, as indicated above responded via the official party channel and awaiting their final determination.”

However, he said the allegation of him supporting the NDC candidate and both of them hailing from the same clan house of La, hence support was not only baseless and untrue but rather the tactics of perennial losers, who had lost many elections.

“I wish to assure you that I have every faith in the party structures to get to the bottom of the cause of our loss of the seat and reiterate my readiness not only to assist but also to submit myself to the fact-finding committee set up by the party to investigate such matters,” he said.