KOFI COOMSON DISQUALIFIED ...From NPP primary (1b)

THE Publisher of the Ghanaian Chronicle, Nana Kofi Coomson, has been disqualified from contesting the Effia Kwesimintsim primary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) but the man has vowed this is not the end of the matter.
In a statement issued in Takoradi, the National Steering Committee (NSC) of the party said Mr Coomson had been disqualified for using the letterhead of the party to solicit for funds without the express permission of the party.
It said Mr Coomson, in various letters written to individuals and organisations to seek funding, created the impression that he was the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency.
But the action was swiftly met with protests and demonstrations by his supporters within the constituency who described it as unreasonable, unfair and tantamount to dictatorship by the NSC.
Mr Chris Larbi-Boateng, the spokesman for the group of Coomson’s supporters, who addressed the press after the demonstration, said the decision, if not reversed, would spell doom for the party at the December polls.
He said the reasons given by the NSC were untenable and accused the Chairman of the party, Mr Peter Mac Manu, of dictating how affairs were to be run in the constituency.
“It is time for members of the party to resist such dictatorial tendencies,” he said.
He said after the announcement of Mr Coomson’s disqualification, Mr Mac Manu was quoted as saying that polling station executives could not take decisions for the party at the constituency level and that it was the national executives who could determine who a good candidate was.
The spokesman disagreed with that position.
Mr Larbi-Boateng described the statement as wrong and added that Article 9 of the party’s constitution stated that “the constituency Executive Committee shall be responsible for overseeing the operations of the party within the constituency and the implementation of its programmes for promoting social and political awareness and general political education within the constituency. It will also be responsible for recruiting members into the party and for mobilising support for the party before and during elections”.
He said based on the above clause in the party’s constitution, the national chairman had no right to say that polling station chairmen had no power, adding that “that statement is preposterous”.
“We are, therefore, appealing to the national and regional executive members of the party, the campaign team and the leader, Nana Akufo-Addo to, as a matter of urgency, do whatever they can to call the NSC to order to ensure tranquillity in the constituency.
When contacted, the Central Regional Chairman of the party, Nana Owusu-Ankomah, said the power to disqualify any candidate was the prerogative of the NSC of the party.
From his base in Accra, Mr Coomson said the decision of the steering committee could not be a finality and that the final decision rested with the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party.
He expressed his belief that the NEC would take an impartial look at the case and review the decision of the NSC.