Suspended Party Members To Vote In NPP Flagbearership Race

The General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Justin Frimpong Koduah, provided clarification on the voting rights of party members who have been suspended, particularly in the context of the upcoming presidential primaries.

Koduah explained that suspended members are entitled to cast their votes either before they face a disciplinary committee or while the disciplinary process is still ongoing.

This approach is guided by the fundamental principle of presuming innocence until a final verdict is reached in their respective cases.

He conveyed this information during a press conference held in Accra in anticipation of the NPP’s presidential primaries scheduled for November 4.

“Per our party constitution, what this presupposes is that a person can be suspended before appearing before a disciplinary committee or when a disciplinary committee would have been initiated.

“But as a rule and in line with that rule of law, there is what we refer to as the presumption of innocence until a matter is determined. So whereby a person has been suspended under this provision, has not gone through a disciplinary committee and they have also not come out with the verdict and recommended their verdict to the constituency executives, such person will vote,” he stated.

This means that any individual who has been suspended and has not yet appeared before a disciplinary committee or is currently undergoing a disciplinary committee trial without a final judgement will be eligible to vote.

However, those who have undergone the disciplinary committee process, received recommendations, and faced sanctions that have been approved by the constituency executive committee will not retain their voting privileges.

Nevertheless, the General Secretary highlighted the possibility of conditional amnesty, where the constituency executive committee may consider granting clemency and reinstating the voting rights of suspended individuals based on the merits of their specific circumstances.

“However, where the person has gone through a disciplinary committee and the DC has come out with a recommendation and has submitted the same to the constituency executive committee and sanctions have been applied to the person, such a person shall not be entitled to vote. But also, under conditional amnesty, the constituency executive can look at the merit of their case and pardon such people to vote,” he added.

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