NDC Parliamentary Primaries: Emmanuel Jones Mensah to be Disqualified from Contesting in Keta over Allegations of Fraud

Ghananewsonline.com.gh has intercepted a petition from a concerned member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) – Elikem Eric Detologo asking the committee responsible for vetting NDC parliamentary aspirants in the Keta Constituency to disqualify one Emmanuel Jones Mensah, also known as Kojo Jones, who became popular after his extravagant wedding in 2022 from contesting as a parliamentary candidate in the constituency.

Elikem Detologo who is a native of Keta insists that Emmanuel Jones Mensah does not meet article 41(8)(b) of the constitution of the NDC which provides that “A member shall not be qualified to contest the primaries for a parliamentary seat if the person is not an active member of the party at the constituency level for four (4) years immediately preceding the date of filing nomination.”

He further indicated that the constitutional provision has been reproduced as regulation 2.1 (iii) of the guidelines for electing parliamentary candidates for the NDC towards the 2024 general elections, and it states that “one must be an active member of a branch of the party in a constituency for not less than four (4) years immediately preceding the date of filing his/her nominations.”

The petition also alleged among others that Emmanuel Jones Mensah was one of the persons whose membership of the NDC in the Keta constituency became the subject of a petition and investigations sometime in August 2022 and that in the specific case of Emmanuel Jones Mensah, investigations revealed that the party membership register for the Dzelukope RC, a branch where he claimed to be a registered member was tempered with, and his name fraudulently inserted. The petition is of the suspicion that his name and personal details were fraudulently superimposed on the details of another member of the party called Emma Kudjawu.

The petition continued to explain that after thorough investigations into these issues of fraudulent membership which included the case of Emmanuel Jones Mensah, the then General Secretary of the NDC (now National Chairman) – Johnson Asiedu Nketia ruled that, the registration of Emmanuel Jones Mensah be expunged from the Dzelukope RC “A” branch register on grounds of fraud and that, any other party membership allegedly held in any other branch of the party by any such affected individual is null and void since an individual cannot hold more than one party membership concurrently.

According to the petition, Emmanuel Jones Mensah, subsequent to the ruling, was registered as a member of the NDC, and his personal details were entered into the Dzelukope RC “A” branch register of the party in keta constituency only last year.

The petitioner further alleged that, Emmanuel Jones Mensah bought his parliamentary nomination forms with a membership number which belongs to VALCO Flat Base 1 branch of the Ashaiman constituency of the party to contest to be the NDC parliamentary candidate for the Keta constituency.

The petitioner also revealed that this alleged membership of Jones Mensah is also fraudulent as the original and authentic bearer of NDC membership, is one Senyo Dumahlor.

The petitioner therefore believes that with all the foregoing facts, Emmanuel Jones Mensah has never been an active member of the NDC for at least four (4) years, hence unqualified to contest for the parliamentary primaries of the party.

Mr. Detologo has therefore appealed to the vetting committee to disqualify Emmanuel Jones Mensah from contesting the parliamentary primaries for the keta constituency, while steps are taken to report him to the appropriate disciplinary committee of the party for investigations and action which will serve as a deterrence not only to Emmanuel Jones Mensah, but all other persons who intend to engage in such fraudulent acts.

Source: Ghananewsonline.com.gh