The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has denied claims that it planned to have Mubarak Muntaka, the member of parliament for Asawase, removed from office.
Captain (Rtd) John Kwame Jabari, the first vice chairman of the NDC in the Ashanti Region, disputes that assertion.
He asserted that the party has no right to bar legitimate candidates from running for office in order to support one of them.
“We thought Asawase primary was going to be close but the golden boy of Asawase, Muntaka came out victorious once again. We couldn’t have sided with any of them, we wanted the elections to be free and fair and that is exactly what happened. The former national chairman of the party had a challenger, our flagbearer John Dramani Mahama was also contested.
“So if someone wants to contest an MP what can we do about it? Anyone who wanted to contest and passed the rules and regulations was allowed and that was something for the delegates to decide. I can’t say that as a region, we masterminded and wanted him to lose, that is not possible, we won’t allow that. As a region, there was no intention of that,” the NDC’s Ashanti Regional 1st Vice Chairman clarified.
Muntaka claims that some members of the party’s leadership have been attempting to remove him from Parliament for some time but have been ineffective.
Days after the party’s primary elections, Mohammed Muntaka told reporters that the recent change in the Minority Leadership of Parliament was a part of the larger plan.
“I can tell you, it was part of the strategy to get me out. No political person won’t say that wasn’t part of the strategy to get me out. Avedzi wasn’t contesting again, Haruna didn’t have any contenders, and I was the only one who had a contender, so to have done that at that time was part of the strategy to get me out.
“But like I keep saying, God is not their village Chief, God doesn’t hate people because you hate them.”
For the Asawase constituency parliamentary race, Masawudu Mubarick presented a strong challenge to Muntaka.
