The former national Co-ordinator of the Ghana School Feeding Programme and leading member of the New Patriotic Party, Kwame Amoako Tuffour, has said that imposing incumbent MPs on constituents in the Ashanti Region will lead to acrimony among party members.

Dr Amoako Tuffour advised that other candidates should be given the chance to compete with standing MPs in the party’s primaries, scheduled for April.

Dr Amoako Tuffour feared that if this is not done, aggrieved members of the NPP will vote “skirt and blouse” in the December general election, which will have dire consequences for the party.

Wontumi’s stance

The NPP Ashanti Regional Chairman, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as “Wontumi”, suggested in a recent interview that all sitting MPs in the Ashanti Region should stand for re-election unopposed.

But speaking with reporters, Dr Amoako Tuffour expressed dissatisfaction with the idea. Dictatorship will only create divisions in the party, he said.

The idea in any case conflicts with the guidelines set out in the NPP’s governing constitution.

“What’s going on is not right,” Dr Amoako Tuffour said. “It will create acrimony between members. Imposing incumbent MPs in the Ashanti Region on constituents is not the best.

“We’ll only create disunity if we go by that decision. Everybody must be given a fair playing field.

“Some of the MPs are my friends and sons, but if truth be told, would the sitting MPs be where they are now if they were blocked from contesting with their predecessors?”