Minister Imposes Harry Zakkour On NDC

National Democratic Congress (NDC) Constituency election for the Korle-Klottey Constituency scheduled for tomorrow Saturday, 19th December, 2009, at the YWCA hall may turn out to be a big hoax. Greater Accra Regional Minister and MP for Korle-Klottey, Hon. Ishmael Nii Armah Ashietey, the Today newspaper sorties have uncovered, has unilaterally chosen Mr Harry Zakkour, a former Executive Chairman of Accra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club, as the new chairman of the Korle-Klottey constituency of the NDC. Today newspaper can authoritatively report that the Regional chairman will introduce Mr Zakkour to delegates and other party supporters as the chairman for the constituency. The move, the paper discovered, had been part of a clandestine move by the Greater Accra Regional Minister and his cohorts to impose their favourites, including Mr Zakkour on the constituency. Underground investigations conducted by the Today newspaper have revealed that the Regional Minister with his close associates, including his special aide, Francis Banson, one Mr Marsh and one other Siasiah met in a house close to the Kojo Thompson Road at Adabraka this week to pursue their hidden selfish agenda. These secret meetings, �Today� learned, never involved the other constituency executives since the group believed that the renegade executives would definitely oppose and stand against the move. The constituency executives hinted that the right person who was expected to go for the position unopposed was one Mr Kwei Tetteh, the Chief Accountant of the 31st December Women�s Movement but the Regional Minister and his associates openly declared that the man in question was ex-President Rawlings� man and therefore an �Anti-Mills person� so there was no way he could get a position in the NDC. The Minister�s actions, �Today� is reliably informed, contravenes the party�s Constitution where any individual wishing to stake a claim to any party position is expected to stand for elections. In the extreme case where an individual could go unopposed, delegates are expected to endorse the candidature of the individual through popular acclamation. The paper gathered that executives, stakeholders and supporters of the NDC in the Korle-Klottey constituency are overly peeved and enraged over the illegal action and have sworn to torpedo the Minister�s action. Sources close to the concerned constituency executives of Korle-Klottey alleged that the Regional Minister held secret meetings with some members of the executives who happened to be his favourites and lured them to endorse Mr Harry Zakour as the constituency chairman for the constituency, arguing that Mr Zakkour has never been a card-bearing member of the NDC, thus rendering his selection null and void. Those who attended the secret meeting are expected to table a motion at tomorrow�s congress about their preference for the candidature of Mr Zakkour as the NDC chairman for the Korley-Klottey constituency. Under the circumstance, delegates would have no choice than to endorse the decision of the executives through popular acclamation. But the other constituency members of the NDC in the constituency have sworn to make capital out of the situation by bringing to the fore the fact that Mr Zakkour does not even qualify to contest the election, let alone to be elected as the chairman for the constituency. Mr Harry Zakour confirmed in a telephone interview that he is the new chairman of the NDC branch of the Korley-Klottey constituency. �Yes I am the new constituency chairman for the Korle-Klottey constituency in Accra�, he declared. He continued��I have been appointed and endorsed by the constituency executives and the MP; in fact I am going unopposed � I am just waiting for my official declaration and acclamation ceremony on Saturday.� The concerned executives disclosed that ever since they stood against the Regional Minister�s actions and decisions they have now been branded as enemies of the Minister who is also their own MP. The executives also alleged among other things that the Minister was supported financially by Mr Zakkour during the 2008 election hence his decision to reward him for his kind gesture. They decried the actions of Hon. Ashietey and recalled how they worked strenuously in the hot sun and suffered so much during the 2008 general election moving from house-to-house to canvass votes for the Greater Accra Regional Minister. �My brother, you see, it is very pathetic and sad to see a whole Minister of State getting involved in these illegal and diabolic activities which contravene our party�s constitution,� lamented one of the concerned executives, who spoke on condition of anonymity. �Who is Harry Zakkour? We all know him from Accra Hearts of Oak; since when did he become an NDC member? The Minister should answer these questions. They are making a very big mistake which might spell doom for us in 2012,� another executive member emphasized.