Internal wrangling within NPP Upper East never get resolved- Kpemka

Former Deputy Attorney General Joseph Dindiok Kpemka has said acrimony in the camps of the New Patriotic Party in the Upper East region are difficult to resolve each time they arise.

According to him, the situation has largely contributed to the poor performance of the party in the 2020 elections.

In an interview, he said the internal party wrangling, coupled with personal differences among top members of the party are often carried through to the election without being resolved.

In his assertion, the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has proven over the period an ability to easily reconcile and rally support behind candidates before elections, a virtue he added is lacking in the New Patriotic Party.

“One of our problems in the region; when it comes to the NDC I applaud them for that] they fight but when it comes to elections, they come together. They easily mend their cracks and they move on. But in NPP, if there is a problem; they work against you till the end of it and make sure you don’t win,” he said.

The former Tempane Member of Parliament disclosed that some top members of the party worked against him in the 2020 election because they knew he would be made a cabinet minister if he wins his seat for the second time.

“I know people in this region who are in high places even in government and that was their wish. Some of them indeed worked at it. You have NPP members working and praying that you do not win. The NDC in my constituency, you wouldn’t believe that they will come together but in the last minute, they came together,” he added.

While proposing to the party to scrap the parliamentary primaries system in the Upper East region and endeavor to build consensus and select parliamentary candidates, he stressed that his failure to win the Tempane seat in the 2020 elections has effectively dashed his chances of being appointed to cabinet in the second term of Nana Akufo Addo’s administration.

Mr Kpemka lost the Tempane constituency seat to the National Democratic Congress’s Lydia Akanvariba Adakudugu, widow of the late 2020 parliamentary candidate of the NDC David Adakudugu.

She polled 20,939 votes as against 16,462 votes of the incumbent to reclaim the seat which has been a safe one for the NDC since 1992.

By: James Adombire, Bolgatanga