Claims that the National Democratic Congress in the Ashanti Region attempted to remove Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak, the party’s representative for Asawase, have been refuted.
During the party’s primaries, the former Minority Chief Whip claimed that party leaders were plotting to have him removed from the Asawase constituency.
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.
First Vice Chairman of the NDC in the Ashanti Region Captain (Rtd) John Kwame Jabari argued that the delegates had the authority to determine whether a candidate must be elected or not in response to the assertions made on Eyewitness News with Umaru Sanda Amadu.
He continued by saying that it is not the role of the party to disqualify legitimate candidates from running in order to support the rival.
“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
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 campaign, Masawudu Mubarick presented a strong challenge to Muntaka.
However, he won with 1,063 of the total valid votes cast, while his primary rival Masawudu Mubarick finished in second place with 735 votes.
