Embattled Member of Parliament for Kwesimintsim, Honourable Joe Mensah who is in a battle for his political life, has lashed out a polling station executive, who published a feature critical of the MP’s tenure.
Albert Howard, the polling station executive says he was surprised to receive a message from the MP which read in part “Maybe I’ll be the next person your father will report to the police”. The statement is in reference to another incident where a loyalist of the MP also threatened the same gentleman, causing his father to report the matter to the police. At the time, the MP intervened in the matter and the case was dropped. This latest incidents suggests that Mr Joe Mensah not only endorses such conduct but also engages in it.
With the primaries fast approaching, attention in the constituency has been focused on the former PNDC Cadre turned NPP Member of Parliament and his relations with the polling station executives who form the electoral college that will decide his fate. Mr Mensah has been known to be abrasive in his interactions with delegates he suspects of not supporting him, although it is not clear if he has resorted to physical threats in the past.
A recent report from the country’s national security apparatus showed Honourable Mensah trailing his challenger with the primaries merely eight days away. Sources say the incumbent is planning to rescue his flagging political fortunes by attempting to buy the votes of the delegates that he has until recently ignored and treated with contempt.
Mr Howard said while he was very disappointed in the conduct of the Honourable Member of Parliament, he was not particularly surprised. “He is cracking under the pressure of his looming loss so I can understand why he’d do something so wrong as threatening a member of his own party.” Mr Howard said he is not considering pressing charges against the MP as of now.
Attached below is a copy of the MP’s whatsapp messsage to the said delegate:
