Kufuor cools hot NPP heads

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john kufuor

Former President John Agyekum Kufuor

Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has unequivocally condemned the assault on some party members when machete-wielding ?macho men? stormed the New Patriotic Party (NPP) headquarters on Tuesday.

The bloody clash was triggered by a controversial press conference held by the National Chairman of the Party, Paul Afoko and General Secretary, Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, without officially informing other executive members of the party.

The press confab was meant to explain the unilateral dismissal of the party?s Acting Director of Communications, Perry Okudzeto, the previous week ? which had raised eyebrows within the party.

?Thuggery is not part of our party?s tradition.  It is alien to us.  Those responsible for the disturbances cannot claim to be true members of the NPP,? President Kufour decried in a statement released by his Spokesperson, Frank Agyekum, on Wednesday.

?I call for calm from all who feel aggrieved in one way or the other and urge them to use laid-down rules in the party to seek redress for their complaints, while we accord the national executive the necessary freedom and space to operate. We should all return to the true tenets of the party which encourage frank exchange of views and accommodation of one another in healthy debate, free from intimidation or fear,? the former President appealed.

The Chairman and the General Secretary whose modus operandi had been questioned by many party supporters, purportedly brought heavily armed body guards to the headquarters to protect them, sparking angst from regular security outfit at the head office, referred to as the Invisible Forces, who launched a counter-attack on the armed hoodlums.

Several party members have also condemned the action. ?I want to appeal to all NPP supporters and officials to remain calm and focused, and desist from actions that might undermine the unity of the party and compromise our chances for success in 2016. We are all members of one family and we should find a way to deal with our issues in a satisfactory manner,? Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, the two-time flagbearer of the party, also stated on Wednesday.

?I urge all NPP members to promote the things that bring us together and eschew those that seek to divide us. We must, always, be guided and guarded constantly by an uncompromising sense of unity, fellowship and greater purpose,? Akufo-Addo pleaded.

His closest rival in the forthcoming flagbearership race, John Alan Kwadwo Kyeremanteng, has also added his voice to the condemnation saying, ?I am deeply saddened by events at the NPP headquarters on Tuesday when some people invaded a press conference being addressed by the party Chairman, Mr. Paul Afoko and General Secretary, Mr. Kwabena Agyepong.?

?I call for calm among the rank and file of the party? now is not the time to engage in blame games in order not to play into the hands of our opponents and lose focus of our greater goal of winning power in 2016,? Mr. Kyeremanteng said.

By Raphael Ofori-Adeniran

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