Sir John Pooh-Poohs NDC Primaries

The General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie (Sir John) says that the manner some ministers manipulated the just-ended National Democratic Congress (NDC) primaries to win is an indication that the party would be defeated in the December elections. �The ministers and other top party people felt that they should secure themselves by buying delegates to vote for them during the primaries,� he said. Mr. Afriyie told the Enquirer newspaper in an interview via phone that the way money was thrown out during the exercise was evidence that some of them had ill-gotten money. �But what is important is that buying your way during primaries does not mean that one can easily win the seat,� he said. According to him, it was clear that the NDC has institutionalized the use of money and that would create problems for the party. �Moneycracy is what the NDC is practicing and that should tell Ghanaians how they are overnight,� he added. Mr. Afriyie, popularly called �Sir John,� told the Enquirer that questions should be asked about how the ministers and top party officials were much interested in becoming Parliamentary candidate. �The answer is simple, they have seen that the government will be defeated in December and they just want some cover to secure themselves,� he said. Mr. Afriyie told the Enquirer that the manner some of the defeated candidates are threatening to go independent is an indication that the whole exercise was simply not transparent. �We have seen primaries in this country but the aftermath of that of NDC is simply pathetic as majority of the losers are crying wolf and it is all because of the use of money to buy delegates,� he said. He said that those who have hatched the idea of going independent would create more problems for the party, which is already moving into opposition in December.