Go independent and lose your membership again- Koku tells disqualified aspirants –

Go independent and lose your membership again. That is the warning given to disqualified members of the National Democratic Congress who wanted to contest on the parliamentary ticket of the party in the 2016 elections.

Deputy General Secretary of the party Koku Anyidoho said the party will not compromise on its rules, warning, aggrieved members of the party can choose to express their democratic rights by going independent again but said such members will no longer be considered members of the party.

“If they return they will have to start from the scratch,” he pointed  out.

The National executives of the party have disqualified 11 parliamentary aspirants ahead of the November 7 presidential and parliamentary primaries.

The party had asked the various vetting committees to forward all petitions and contestations to the national executives for resolution.

In all 23 of such cases were brought before the national executives. Apart from the 11 disqualified, five others were given a clean bill of health to contest in the polls.

Most of the disqualified persons were said to be party members who had gone independent in the previous elections.

By the party’s rules a person must be a continuous member for four years before he or she will be eligible to contest in the Parliamentary primaries.

Koku Anyidoho said those who went independent in 2012 automatically lost their membership and could not meet the four year requirement, despite having been welcomed back into the party.

According to Koku Anyidoho, decisions on two constituencies- North Tongu and Ellembele – are pending [which means they will be resolved before the November 7 primaries]; five other constituencies have been put on hold indefinitely but assured their issues would be resolved before September 2016.

He said the party will communicate its latest decisions to those involved.