Ashanti Regional Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi has said the party was very lenient in suspending Paul Afoko, Sammy Crabbe and Kwabena Agyapong.
The National Executive Committee (NEC) of NPP in September 2015 upheld the decision of the Disciplinary Committee to suspend indefinitely the National Chairman, Paul Afoko; 2nd Vice Charman, Sammy Crabbe; and the General Secretary, Kwabena Agyapong for working against the party’s chances of winning the 2016 elections.
Dissatisfied with the decision, Messrs Afoko and Crabbe filed a suit over their suspension, but both suits were thrown out by the court.
Speaking to KSM on ‘Bo Me Nkomo’, Wontumi said the trio should have been dismissed considering the gravity of their action.
“When Afoko took the matter to court, the judge even said the party has been lenient to them. To be sincere with you, I think it should have been dismissal,” he noted.
Two years after the suspension, some constituency and polling station executives of the NPP have petitioned the party’s hierarchy for the reinstatement of Mr. Agyapong.
They argue that unlike Afoko and Crabbe, Agyapong did not seek legal action and that is a proof of his loyalty to the party. The petitioners argued that, his conduct towards the party, even after his indefinite suspension in 2015, was evidence of his unwavering loyalty.
But Wontumi asserts that the argument for Agyapong’s reinstatement is misplaced.
“When we were seriously campaigning, they were distracting us. He [Agyapong] needs to be born again. When you’re a leader, you must give respect to the people you serve. He has served before and knows what to do for a possible reinstatement which includes showing remorse, congratulating those who worked for the party to win power, gradually lobbying the National Council Executives before writing to the body for consideration. To say he has changed because he showed up during Akufo-Addo’s swearing-in ceremony etc. is not enough,” he said.
Meanwhile, Acting National Secretary, John Boadu says it is possible for the conversation to reinstate suspended members of the party to come up at their next Executives meeting.
