General News of Tuesday, 25 November 2014

Source: Daily Guide

I will decide NDC election – Wontumi

The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako aka ‘Wontumi,’ has stated that he will ensure the election of his favourites to steer the affairs of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the congress slated for December 13.

“Only the NDC members that have my support would receive colossal votes from the party’s delegates at the congress grounds,” the NPP chairman, who is noted for his boldness, told DAILY GUIDE in an interview.

Wontumi disclosed that all the NDC members who received his blessings during the party’s recent regional elections across the country easily won their positions, stating “similar thing will happen at the Kumasi congress.”

He said originally the NDC was supposed to hold the congress in Sunyani, the Brong Ahafo capital but he (Wontumi) secretly took steps to ensure a change in venue.

Wontumi said that if the NDC congress had been held in Sunyani, it would have been difficult for him to maneuver to ensure the election of his favourites, saying “that is why I influenced some top NDC members to have the venue shifted to Kumasi.”

He said his favourites whom he contacts frequently would definitely garner massive votes at the polls.

“I known Kumasi very well, it is my city therefore manipulating for my favourites to be elected at the NDC congress will not be a difficult task at all,” the NPP chairman disclosed.

Asked why he was interfering in NDC’s internal politics, Wontumi noted that “I have strong interest in happenings in the NDC. If you want to win elections, you have to know the strength and weakness of your opponent.”

He said the NPP would win political power in 2016 to save Ghanaians from the current hardship caused by the mismanagement of the country’s economy by the incompetent NDC administration, stating that “we can only win if we know the NDC well.”

Wontumi vehemently refused to mention the names of his favourites in the NDC and his clandestine moves to win votes for them.

Currently, the NDC is sharply divided into four groups, the Rawlings, Mills, Mahama and Asiedu Nketia factions, who are struggling for control in the party, according to him.

He alleged that favourites of President Mahama lost in the recent NDC Regional congress across the country.

Wontumi alleged that President Mahama was planning to spend a staggering $4 million to influence delegates and the Electoral Commission (EC) to ensure the election of his favourites.

He cautioned President Mahama not to waste that huge amount of money with the hope of taking over the NDC, saying “in the end those who have the support of Wontumi will win the NDC elections.”