Veteran politician Osei-Kyei Mensah Bonsu, has proposed an amendment to Clause 6, Subclause 3 of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) constitution to prevent automatic forfeiture of membership following a breach of the constitution.
He noted that in cases where a member holds an official position within the party, they should only be required to vacate their position without losing their membership rights upon breaching the constitution.
“A member shall not automatically forfeit his/her membership upon breach of a provision of this constitution, except where the member is an officer of the party, in which case he/she may be required to vacate his/her position without losing the right of membership,” he stated in his 30-page proposal.
In the past, several NPP members, including Hopeson Adorye, Yaw Buaben Asamoah, Nana Ohene Ntow, and Boniface Abubakar Saddique, lost their membership after publicly endorsing and campaigning for independent presidential candidate Alan Kyerematen.
The NPP announced that these individuals had automatically forfeited their membership due to what it described as a flagrant breach of the party’s constitution, specifically Articles 3(5)(A)(4) and 3(9)(1).
According to a statement signed by the NPP’s General Secretary, Justin Kodua Frimpong, Article 3(9)(I) of the constitution states: “A Member of the Party who stands as an independent candidate against the officially elected member of the Party or who joins or declares his or her support for another political party, or for an independent candidate when the Party has sponsored a candidate in a general or by-election automatically forfeits his or her membership of the Party.”
Ahead of the 2024 elections, 173 members from the Yendi Constituency were also expelled for breaching the party’s constitution by contesting as independent candidates and supporting rival political parties during the December 7 elections.
Osei-Kyei Mensah Bonsu however, suggested amendments aim to address these issues, as he believes the current practices are weakening the foundations of the party.
