The concerned members of the National Executive Council (NEC) of the Convention People’s Party from the 16 regions of Ghana have stated that Nana Akosua Frimpomaa Kumankuma is still the legitimate leader and chairperson of the Convention People’s Party.
Addressing the media on Monday, December 11, 2023, CPP Greater Accra Regional Secretary Koo Mensah Frimpong said the party held an illegal NEC meeting in Kumasi on December 5, 2023, where a petition from an Eastern Region branch member instructed the chairperson to resign due to her involvement in constituency rearranging for the 2024 general elections without proper means.
Mensah Frimpong stated that during the meeting, certain individuals who are part of the decision-making body of the party voluntarily resigned from their positions based on the petition.
However, he added that neither the National Chairperson and leader Nana Akosua Frimpomaa Sarpong Kumankuma nor her three deputies resigned.
He noted that the chairperson stood by her grounds that she wasn’t going to resign from her post because she hasn’t done anything wrong and was focused on putting structures in place to make the party attractive to Ghanaians.
“During this meeting, let the record show that certain individuals voluntarily resigned from their positions. Comrades Moses Yirimambo, Osei Kofi Acquah, Aisha Sulley Futa, Emmanuel Opare Addo, and Nana Yaa Gyantua decided to step down. However, crucially, it must be emphasised that neither the National Chairman and leader, Nana Akosua Frimpomaa Sarpong Kumankuma, nor her three deputies resigned.”
“I reiterate that Nana Akosua Frimpomaa Sarpong Kumankuma remains the chair of the CPP; her firm stance against resigning was explicitly stated during the NEC meeting and meticulously recorded in the meeting’s minutes,” Mensah Frimpong said.
He contended that the earlier meeting held in Kumasi was an illegal one, and they had no idea about the agenda until they got to the venue.
He stressed that once the chairperson did not open her mouth to profess that she had resigned or did not do that in writing, there is no way one can say that she is no longer in charge and that any claims suggesting her removal are baseless and hold no legitimacy within the party’s framework.
According to Frimpong Mensah, because the executives who have resigned accepted to resign and did resign, they can no longer conduct themselves as executives of the party, even though they remain members of the party and can contest in future elections of the party.
He said the whole exercise is a violation of Article 82 of the party’s own constitution, accusing the 2020 flagbearer of the party, Mr. Ivor Greenstreet, and some other members of hatching up the plan and illegally setting up an Interim Organising Committee (IOC).
On his part, the Director of Elections of the party, Yakubu Habib, said that the NEC of every party is not higher than the constitution that governs the behaviour of its people and that those who have come together to scheme this have performed an exercise in futility.
He added that the purpose of the press conference was to defend the party’s constitution rather than side with the chairperson, as some opponents may believe.