The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Bernard Antwi Boasiako known as Chairman Wontumi has asserted no aspirant will be favored during the vetting process for the reason that the ruling party requires suitable candidate to contest in the December 7 general elections

He voiced that when the party presents aspirants who have what it takes after the parliamentary primaries, they can help to conquer majority of seats in the various constituencies throughout the country which would aid in persuasive implementation of better initiatives by the NPP government for the welfare of Ghanaians.

“There is no short cut. Building a team demands competent players so we just can’t employ anyone to represent their constituencies. We are vetting to have good people who can contest in the general elections. It’s not about being an NPP member. We want people who can contest and conquer the other opposition aspirants.

“This is why we demand people who have what it takes to stand in order to enable us win majority of seats in the presidential and parliamentary elections,” he said.

The Ashanti Regional chairman spoke these words during a press briefing at the Hasta Hotel, TUC-Santasi where the vetting of Parliamentary aspirants of the NPP is being held.

According to the chairman, the benchmarks laid down during the evaluation of aspirants is expressly to define the devoted and committed sons and daughters of the Party. With 121 candidates highlighted and ready to be vetted, Mr. Antwi Boasiako explained candidates obligation before been authorized to compete during the parliamentary primaries scheduled for April 25, 2020.

He further stressed that, the number of people who filed their nomination aside the Member of Parliaments who went unopposed is an indication of how Ghanaians have faith in the NPP as the ideal political party to headway the Republic of Ghana.

“The forms picked by the aspirants contains majority of the questions during the vetting. Just as Paul wrote to Timothy regarding how an overseer of God’s church should be chosen, that is how our rules are.

“We have the laid down measures to check if every aspirant has a good standing and is eligible to win against the opposition.

“We have Hon. Osei Kyei Mensah going unopposed with others like Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, Hon. George Oduro and many others. If aside the MP’s who were unchallenged in their various constituencies, we still have 121 people to be vetted before the primaries, then it shows that Ghanaians indeed have hope in the NPP government.

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“The National Executive Committee (NEC) has the power to decide who should stand for NPP. We have no power to disqualify anyone except NEC. Although they make enquiries from the Regional level, concerning the aspirants before making decisions yet NEC only have that mandate.

“When we are done with the vetting, we will call all the aspirants and give them numbers yet unless the Executive Committee approve of their statements. We are just instruments to make the vetting successful. If you are lucky and you go through, then you prepare for primaries on 25 April. The process is very tight and key”, he added.

The vetting started on Monday, March 2, 2020 and will be done on Sunday, March 8 excluding March 6, and 7 reserved for National activities. The party has constituted two separate vetting committees to conduct interviews on the 121 aspirants simultaneously at the Hasta Hotel.

Each candidate before been made eligible to go through the vetting must complete the two aspects of the filing process per the party’s guidelines – that is  20,000 as filing fee and a development levy of 30,000 cedis.

Speaking to the Adansi Akrofrom NPP chairman, Mr. Nicholas Asando, he defined the payment as the mandate of a member willing to represent the party in Parliament.

“The payment is what qualifies you to be vetted. So if you want to aspire for a parliamentary candidate and you are unable to abide by the National Executive Committee decisions, how do you expect the party to push you to parliament?” he enquired.

“Remember that one of our core values is the strict observance of the rule of law. It is not discrimination because others have paid. If you want to be a candidate for the party and you cannot raise your filing fee, then how can you mobilize resources prosecute the agenda of the greater part,” he ended.