Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, one of the flagbearer aspirants of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has issued a warning that he will not tolerate any further attacks on his supporters.
He described the attack on his Polling Agent, Ali Zakaria, during the Super Delegates’ Conference in the North East Region as an act of total indiscipline.
On Saturday, August 26, Zakaria was struck in the eye and had to be taken to the Baptist Medical Center (BMC) for immediate treatment.
While the regional branch of the party has downplayed the incident, Zakaria had to be brought to Accra for further treatment.
Visiting him at the Dr Agarwal’s Eye Hospital, Mr. Kyerematen, who placed third in the weekend’s elections after securing no votes in the North East Region, said the attack at the Nalerigu Senior High School constitutes a dent in the image of the NPP.
“We all joined the NPP because of our commitment to the values of our party but what is happening clearly shows that this is not what we bargained for,” he told journalists on Tuesday, August 29.
He warned that such behaviour will not be tolerated by him in the future.
“I am not going to tolerate this kind of behaviour. It doesn’t make sense and when we cannot conduct ourselves as a family trying to select a leader in a peaceful and organised manner, how do we intend to be able to do the same kind of process when we have 200,000 plus people gathered?” he wondered concerning the November 4 Presidential Primary for the five qualified aspirants.
He said he is disturbed by the incident.
“Frankly, I am very disturbed about what has happened. The party must not put a shine on what has happened.”
The Elections Committee had earlier met him over the incident after he first complained about it in his statement issued right after the polls.
Spokesperson of the Committee Alexander Afenyo-Markin had told journalists on Monday that Mr Kyerematen, a former Minister of Trade and Industry, will be invited for a “one-on-one engagement”.
Despite stopping short of commenting on that meeting, Mr Kyerematen said: “What happened to my colleague on Saturday was an act of total indiscipline and indecent behaviour.
“How do we as a decent party going into an election, particularly at the level of super delegates superintend such behaviour?”