A disqualified parliamentary aspirant of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Assin South constituency, Mr Joseph Kofi Damtse, has gone independent.

He complained to Valentina Ofori-Afriyie on Class91.3FM’s midday news programme 12 Live on Monday, 15 June 2020 that the leadership of the party never told him why he was disqualified.

According to him, the leadership of the party has chosen its own candidate and sidelined other aspirants, thus, his decision to go independent.

“It’s because the party is not allowing me to do what I think I can also do to help my people”, Mr Damtse explained to Valentina, adding: “They [the entire leadership of the NPP] have a laid-down procedure for parliamentary aspirants and I’ve gone through the entire process and they’ve decided not to let me go”.

“They’ve not assigned any reasons for their decision and I think I’ve been in a position, since 2010, working hard to achieve this goal and if you can’t assign any reasons for not allowing me to contest, then the Ghana Constitution allows me to contest without a party or contest independently and that’s exactly what I will try to do”, he said.

Asked why he chose to make his announcement via the media rather than engage the leadership of the party over the matter, Mr Damtse said: “They have not written to me to assign any reason [for my disqualification], and, so, I’m speaking to them in the language that they have taught me to communication”.

“They should have written to me at the regional level, they didn’t; they should have written to me after the vetting, they haven’t; they should have written to me after the NEC meeting, they haven’t. So, I’ve also decided to put my message on the air, so, we are all communicating in the media”.

“I didn’t tell them that they should allow me to go to parliament without competing. They should have allowed us all to contest in the primaries so that everything will stay cool but since they have decided to give us who should go to parliament, they won’t allow the delegates to choose which is the right system, I have every reason also to resist that”, he noted, adding: “My mind is 100 per cent made up”.

This means Mr Damtse will be contesting against the incumbent MP Rev John Ntim Fordjour of the NPP during the 7 December 2020 general elections.

In September 2019, Mr Damtse denied media reports that suggested he had planned to go independent in the race.

Read his full denial letter copied to Ghanaweb.com below:

I read with shock and dismay, a letter purported to have been written by me, Joseph Kofi Damtse, and published on the page of Ghanaweb.com dated, today, September 16, 2019.

I, Joseph Kofi Damtse, an aspiring parliamentary candidate of the New Patriotic Party in Assin South Constituency wish to state without any equivocation that there is NO iota of truth in the letter published by Ghanaweb.com.

The entire article is FALSE.

I have never considered, contemplated or discussed any such plans with any person since I started my journey to contest in 2019 New Patriotic Party primaries in Assin South constituency.

I am a true patriot and a firm believer of the Dankwah-Busia-Dombo tradition and have followed the party since my school days and served the party in diverse ways.

I, therefore, cannot do anything to scuttle the political fortunes of the party in election 2020. This is not the first time I am contesting primaries in the constituency and anybody who has worked with me in the party can attest to my love for the party

The letter published by Ghanaweb.com is a sad example of bad journalism that we must all endeavour to eradicate from our public discourse. We cannot continue to have journalists who publish stories without cross-checking and without credible basis.

I also believe that the publication is part of my opponent's mischief and propaganda intended to discredit me and also derail my good course in winning the primaries.

My opponents have tried many vile propaganda tools against me so as to emerge as the only alternative to the delegates in the primaries but none has dampened my hope of winning the primaries.

I am only waiting for the outcome of the vetting so that Team Damtse can kick start our vigorous campaign to canvass the support of the delegates in the constituency.

I have, therefore, instructed my lawyers to sue the publishers of the wicked propaganda letter if they decide not to retract and apologise with the same seriousness they used to publish the fake letter.

I want to reiterate and emphasise that my position to contest and win the primaries in Assin South is unabated and no impediment can be pushed my way to prevent me from winning the primaries in the constituency.