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Deputy Tourism Minister and sitting Member of Parliament for Gushegu in the Northern Region, Dr. Zibblim Iddi, has turned tail after the politics in the lead up to the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP)’s Parliamentary primary turned nasty.
Though he is the sitting MP, the violence punctuating the build-up to the elections has forced him to step out of the race, just two weeks to the primary on 20th June.
Mr. Iddi has asked the party’s General Secretary, to withdraw his application for reelection.
“I write to formally inform your good office that I do not intend to contest as a candidate in the Parliamentary Primaries scheduled to take place on the 20th of June, 2020 in the Gushegu Constituency,” he wrote.
“I arrived at this painful decision after very broad consultation and deep introspection. I would be glad if you could kindly withdraw my application and delete my profile on the Notice of Poll and ballot paper for the elections.”
Since the letter was leaked to the public, some NPP youth in the Gushegu Constituency have been jubilating, with some taunting him as a coward.
The violence that has been punctuating the NPP’s Parliamentary primaries across the country has been provoked by allegations that the party’s leadership has kicked in motion plans to have most of the sitting MPs go unopposed.
Violent reactions have mostly been in the form of the torching of party offices, however, there has also been a spiritual dimension to it, with aggrieved party youth invoking supposed spirits of river gods, including Antoa Nyama, Offin Abenaa, Akunedi and others, on the party leaders and sitting MPs.
Videos capturing NPP youth slaughtering sheep in rivers while chanting incantations to invoke curses on sitting MPs and party leadership have been going viral on social media.