NPP primaries: Rastafarians, Machomen likely to cause chaos at Asante Akim South – MP’s campaign team

The campaign team of Hon. Kwaku Asante-Boateng, the sitting Member of Parliament (MP) for Asante Akim South constituency, have sent an SOS message to the Ashanti Regional Police Command and the General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to enhance security at the forecourt of the Asankare Church of Pentecost where Saturday’s parliamentary primary will be held.

They have, accordingly, notified the Municipal and Divisional Police Commands as well.

According to the group, per the intelligence they have picked, Bice Obour Osei Kuffour, one of the parliamentary hopefuls may allegedly deploy some Rastafarians and machomen to disturb the electoral process at the polling station, and therefore, want the Police to be on high alert to avert any disorder at the polling center.

Addressing a press conference at Asante Akim Adomfe on Friday, January 26, 2024, over matters arising out of Obour’s campaign strategy, the Spokesperson for the Campaign Team of the MP, Adams Yusif Tahiru contented that “Our intelligence suggest that Obour may attempt to replicate disruptive tactics witnessed in the last primaries. He deployed Rastafarians and machomen to disturb the electoral process. These individuals appeared on the scene at the collation center with cutlasses and gunshots to disrupt the process. The intervention of the youth of Juaso was necessary to chase them out, leading them first to Obour father’s house and further pursuing them until they ran into the bush”.

They added “We strongly urge the Regional Police Command, Divisional Police Command, Municipal Police Command, and the General Secretary of the party to enhance security measures to safeguard the 870 delegates, EC officials, media personnel, and everyone participating in the upcoming primaries. The security of our delegates is paramount, and any attempt to compromise their safety for individual gain must be preemptively addressed”.

The campaign team of Hon. Asante Boateng also accused Obour of using the name of the Vice-President and his wife, Samira Bawumia to campaign for votes, an act they considered very dangerous since it has dire consequences post the NPP parliamentary primaries.

“To worsen the situation, one Nana Osei Afrifa of Juaso, in the morning of January 25, 2024, summoned all the constituency executives to the party office, and in the company of Obour, informed them that the Vice-President has sent him to inform them that he will not be able to work with the incumbent MP if he wins the primary, and that his preferred candidate is Obour. So, the constituency executives should give the Vice-President the needed support to unseat the sitting MP. At that instance, the 2nd Vice-Chairman of the constituency, Patrick Amoah Bour, challenged the credibility of the statement purportedly coming from the Vice-President, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia. The constituency secretary, William Obeng, also cautioned Nana Osei Afrifa of the potential danger in his statement in having a united front in the constituency after the primary. We wish to state that the Campaign Tea of the incumbent MP does not believe that such a treacherous statement is coming from His Excellency the Vice-President”, noted Tahiru who is also the Asante Akim South NPP Communications Director.

He averred that the consequences of Obour’s actions are dire, noting that “What then happens if the incumbent MP wins the election which he is certain of winning? What then happens in the unlikely event that the incumbent loses and decides to use the statement to convince his followers as the reason for the lose and not to cooperate?”

The group cautioned Obour to desist from using the name of the First Lady to canvass for votes by promising to sponsor ten (10) students from the community to further studies abroad, stressing that such has the potential of creating problems for the party and the First Lady if the promises are not fulfilled after the primaries.

The group further questioned Obour’s loyalty to the party after distancing himself from all campaign activities in the constituency when he lost the parliamentary primary in the previous election until the last week to the 2020 general elections.