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Minority Members of Parliament (MPs) have invaded the Tema West Constituency to campaign vigorously for the incumbent MP, Ms Irene Naa Torshie Addo, in the upcoming parliamentary primary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the constituency.

The aggressive campaign followed the clearance of a candidate for the primary, Mr Carlos Kingsley Ahenkorah, by the party's National Appeals Committee (NAC) to contest the primary.

The NAC, chaired by Mr Felix Owusu-Adjapong, a former Majority Leader in Parliament, found a petition filed by Ms Addo praying for Mr Ahenkorah’s disqualification as frivolous.

Messrs Dan Botwe of Okere, Henry Quartey of Ayawaso Central, Atta Akyea of Abuakwa South, Daniel Titus-Glover of Tema East, as well as a former General Secretary of the NPP, Mr Kwadwo Owusu-Afriyie, popularly known as Sir John, last Friday met NPP delegates on the Good Shepherd Roman Catholic Church premises at Community Two and at the Paloma Hotel on the Spintex Road, both in the constituency, to court support for Ms Addo.

The closed-door meeting saw selected delegates from the 153 polling stations in the constituency in attendance.

Mr Botwe’s voice was heard in a tape recording making the rounds in the constituency after the meeting telling the delegates to retain the incumbent, since she was a prominent feature in Nana Akufo-Addo's plan.

"Failure to retain her candidature will most likely affect Nana's plans, of which Honourable Torshie is a major factor," the voice was heard telling the delegates.

The move by the MPs to pitch camp in support of Ms Addo has, however, angered some delegates in the constituency.

According to the Community 20 Polling Station Chairman, Mr Michael Lawer, who was at one of the meetings, the behaviour of the MPs showed a clear disregard for democratic processes, which the NPP believed in.

"Why do you support one person against two other contenders? By this, they have clearly shown their intolerance of internal party democracy. The exhibition of bias on their part points to the fact that they will not co-operate with either of the other contenders should either of them, apart from the incumbent, emerge victorious,” he intimated.

"I'm not saying they should not have preferences, but going by recent events that have characterised the process, it is only reasonable that the MPs remain fair to all three aspirants, instead of taking sides," Mr Lawer stated.
Delegates

In all, 810 delegates, made up 19 coordinators, 10 patrons and elders, 16 constituency executives and polling station executive members, will vote in the primary slated for Saturday, July 25, 2015.

A previous balloting conducted at the behest of the regional party leadership to determine the position of the candidates on the ballot paper was cancelled and re-cast under the supervision of the national leadership at the party's headquarters last Tuesday.
Controversies

The primary, which is being contested by Ms Addo, Mr Ahenkorah and Ms Adwoa Amoako is generally seen as a two-horse race between the incumbent and Mr Ahenkorah.

It has lived up to its billing as the most controversial primary among all the primaries held by the NPP nationwide.

The election, which was initially scheduled for June 13, 2015, saw several postponements following petitions and counter-petitions by Ms Addo and Mr Ahenkorah over who should contest and who should not.

Mr Ahenkorah, in an interview with the Daily Graphic, maintained that the problems that had characterised the processes were local ones created by Ms Addo at the constituency level.

According to him, the composition of the constituency vetting committee was done in a manner to favour the incumbent.

He explained that the committee, which had Madam Comfort Otabil, a former constituency chairman; Mr John Awuah and an administrative and research officer, Mr Solomon Armah, had asked him five questions during his vetting.

"I was, however, left dumbfounded when the committee report came out with a 10-question report with well-structured question and answers I never remember being asked and providing answers for recommending my disqualification.

"I was, therefore, left with no choice but to write a 13-page petition to the Regional Appeals Committee against my disqualification," he pointed out.
Ms Addo

Ms Addo, who is, however, focused on retaining her candidature for the 2016 general election, declined comments on the allegations by Mr Ahenkorah.

"I don't want to contribute to any media programme until I'm done with the elections. I have no comments to any of your queries," she said when contacted.
Voting pattern

The Tema West seat has, since 1996, been a traditional seat for the NPP.

In 1996, Mr Abraham Osei Aidoo beat his closest contender, Ms Esther Agbodo of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), by a margin of 7,010 votes, having polled 22,531 out of the 38,032 ballots cast.

In 2,000, Mr Aidoo garnered 25,647 votes against the NDC's George Medie’s 10,860, out of the 41,890 ballots cast, a difference of 14,787.

In 2004, Medie garnered 27,061 votes, against the NPP's 37,975, a difference of 10,914.

The dynamics, however, changed in 2008 with the entry of Ms Addo, who polled 39,070, against Mr Medie's 30,437, reducing the margin to 8,363.

In 2008, Ms Addo performed abysmally against the NDC's Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, who polled 39,005 votes to reduce the margin to 945, with Ms Addo garnering 39,950 votes.
Disunity

With visible cracks in the NPP in the constituency, whoever emerges victorious on Saturday, July 25, will have an arduous task uniting the party for victory in 2016.