Correspondent from Upper East Region

Members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Navrongo Central Constituency are yet to recover from the shock of their lives after a humiliating experience last week Friday which saw a nosedive of the ruling government’s popularity in the area.

The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) gave the ruling government and sympathizers of the NPP a tough time when it was their turn to move into the field to perform their march pass at the COS park in Navrongo where the Municipal Assembly observed this year’s Independence Day celebration.

With placards in their hands, an overwhelming number and chanting songs which ridiculed some of the policies and interventions of government, particularly the Free SHS policy (FSHS), the NDC managed to get the attention of the mammoth gathering, including some senior high school students, pull them to their side and managed to get the crowd sing and march along.

The group from the NPP which had come to represent the party but saw a low turnout, on the other side could hardly make an impression with the fewer numbers.

It is gathered that the NPP recorded the poor numbers at the parade due to some internal wrangling which may greatly affect the fortunes of the party.

Observers who spoke to this reporter said what happened at the Independence parade is an indication that the fortunes of the NPP could be affected if the internal issues are not addressed before the elections.

Sources said staunch members of the party are unhappy about moves by some of the constituency executives to force the candidature of the regional Minister down their throats.

Pleading anonymity, the source said: “I’m one of the longtime members of the great NPP. We are those who have made the party what it is today. But happenings in party at the constituency level at the moment have discouraged some of us from certain activities of the party at the constituency level.

“Me, for instance, did not go for the march parade. Other people with similar concerns and who are not happy about the things happening also boycotted the march parade. Our decision to stay away from some activities is as a result of some of the executives wanting to force the regional minister’s candidature down our throats. It’s a democratic party but Kofi Adda should have been allowed to go unopposed looking at the candidate the NDC has fronted.”

“We are not children for God's sake. The woman is not known here. Who knows her here? Why should you gamble with our seat by trying to bring an unpopular candidate to contest the primaries? If there are issues, work them out and not to bring another person to challenge the sitting MP who can double chances of the party” he advised.

“It’s not that we the old members don’t like the woman. We like her but feel that the time is not right for her to come in. She should have backed Kofi Adda, prepared and come in 2024. That would have helped her,” he added.

“We are important to the party and that was why the party suffered that humiliating experience at the hands of the NDC at the parade on Friday”

But reacting to the issues when contacted, the constituency chairman of the NPP, Anthony Kofi Mensah, has strongly refuted claims that the NPP was humiliated in any way. According to him, what the NDC did at the parade was a total disgrace to their party, which is desperately looking for avenues to discredit the good works and policies of the NPP.

He said the NDC lacked the understanding of the Free SHS policy and that was the reason they labeled it as fraudulent.

He also disputed reports that the NPP suffered a low turnout from members for the parade as a result of internal challenges.

“What the NDC did was propaganda, which everyone knows them to be good at. I wasn’t at home at the time. I was out of town so I can speak much on that issue but what I know is that the NDC went and disgraced themselves at the independence parade. They want to say free SHS is not good but it not true. Free SHS has come to put a lot of people in schools and save parents from spending money their wards secondary education”.

“We don’t have internal issues. As a matter of fact, we have successfully finished vetting and now preparing for our primaries. The NDC has finished electing their leader and that is why they have come together and their numbers are huge. When we are also done with our primaries, we will come together and our numbers will be huge”. he said.

He cleared that: “no executive is forcing a candidate down any member’s throat. The NPP is a democratic party and people can contest the primaries”.