Winneba in turmoil as NDC goes on the rampage
Party members turn on James Kofi Annan, NDC candidate for Effutu and former NPP “financier”
An attempt by some members of the National Democratic Congress to hold a press conference at the Effutu constituency office in the Central Region set off waves of chaos in the Winneba township.
The members intended to inform reporters and the NDC’s national executives about alleged ill-treatment by party regional leaders.
Reports say the aggrieved members had been suspended because they oppose James Kofi Annan, the NDC’s parliamentary candidate for Effutu.
Got the nod
The dissenters disapprove of Annan, arguing that his record is not clean enough for him to stand on the NDC ticket.
They demand that he be barred from running for office. They also accuse him of bribing certain executives in the constituency, as well as some of those at regional and national level.
It is this, they claim, which led to Annan being given the nod to vie for the Effutu seat.
The members therefore called on the party’s national leadership, including the NDC’s founder, Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings, and its flagbearer, John Mahama, to investigate the matter.
Background
In defence of his political record, Annan argues that he left the governing New Patriotic Party last year to join the NDC.
In a letter to the NPP dated 1 July 2019, he said he was resigning with immediate effect. He attached his membership cards, numbered 0164570 (issued in 2007) and CR1281001EFFA5 (issued in 2012).
Annan, who describes himself as the main financier of the NPP in Effutu, says the constituency party was unkind to him even though he sacrificed a great deal for the NPP, starting from his days at the University of Ghana.
He was a pioneer member of the Tertiary Students Confederation (TESCON), the campus chapter of the NPP.
Charges in court
In his resignation letter Annan claimed several instances of attacks, victimisation and threats to his life and businesses.
On 18 March 2020, one Benjamin Ackah lodged a complaint at the Winneba Police Command that GHC100,000 had been transferred from his account into an account belonging to James Kofi Annan without his knowledge or authorisation.
Annan was arraigned before the Winneba District Court to answer to charges of stealing, abetment of crime and dishonestly receiving money. The court subsequently granted him self-cognisance bail.
Eugene Selorm Owusu
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