Kufuor to abstain from internal party elections

Former President John Agyekum Kufuor did not vote yesterday in the Special Electoral College of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to prune the number of presidential candidates seeking to lead the party in the 2016 election from seven to five.

This is to preserve his status as an elder of the party, his spokesperson, Frank Agyekum, has revealed.

According to Mr Agyekum, the former President will no longer be voting in internal party elections.

Delegates of the NPP  yesterday voted at a Super Delegates Congress to reduce the number of candidates from seven to five.

As a member of the National Council of elders of the party, Mr Kufuor was expected to cast his vote at the party’s headquarters yesterday.

Flag bearer aspirant, Mr John Kwadjo Alan Kyerematen, did not also vote at yesterday’s Super Delegates Congress.

He did not vote because he is not a delegate.

Meanwhile, Mr Kyerematen’s closest rival, Nana Akufo-Addo, voted yesterday at the party's headquarters in Accra.

In a related development, the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Tema East Constituency, Daniel Nii Kwatei Titus-Glover, was disallowed from voting at the main Osu centre in Accra.

Mr Titus-Glover had gone to the centre to cast a proxy ballot on behalf of his colleague MP for Dome-Kwabenya, Sarah Adwoa Safo, but he was stopped from doing so by the Electoral Commission (EC) official supervising the polls at the centre.

But the MP is blaming the General Secretary of the NPP, Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, of being the architect of the development.