By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
A Former Central Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) who is currently the National First Vice Chairperson of the party, Mr. Danquah Smith Buttey, is said to be in a crucial National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting after various attempt by the party’s General Secretary to get the National Chairman, Mr. Stephen Ayensu Ntim to chair today’s meeting.
This follows a formal letter from Mr. Ntim’s family to the party’s Council of Elders requesting that the National Chairman be temporarily excused from official duties due to medical reasons.
In the letter dated June 16, 2025, and signed by letter signed by family members including Kingsley Oteng (Family Head), Adelaide Ntim (MP), and others relatives, cited “cognitive dissonance and mental incapacitation” as grounds for their request, stressing that his continued involvement in party activities could further endanger his health and infringe on his rights.
“Steve is not well at the moment, and appealed for his exemption from the June 17 NEC meeting at the Alisa Hotel, which he was expected to chair.
Common sense dictates that Steve, as a matter of urgency, be temporarily excused, not only from the rigours of active politics, but from intra-party activities to make way for needed peace and solace and concentration on the ongoing required medical treatment process,” part of the letter read.
The letter highlighted Mr. Ntim’s decades of commitment to the party from his time as First National Deputy Chairman to his current leadership.
The unavailability of the substantive chairman has paved the way for Mr. Buttey to step in and chair the NEC session, which is currently ongoing.
Insider sources indicate that today’s NEC meeting aims to enable party stalwarts to review the work of the party’s Constitutional Review Committee, deliberations on internal reforms, and preparations for the 2024 general elections.
