The only female candidate in the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) National Youth Organiser race, Vera Oye Bram-Larbi, has raised concerns about what she describes as attempts by senior party figures to influence the contest ahead of Saturday’s elections.

Speaking on Morning Star on Friday, October 2, Bram-Larbi said she had been confident about her chances of winning until she arrived in Kumasi and noticed what she described as the involvement of powerful party personalities.

“I was so much certain about my victory tomorrow until a couple of people decided to step in the election. How is that honest? Now, the contest is not between the youth again…which is highly unfair,” she said.

According to her, the involvement of senior figures had shifted the contest away from the candidates vying for the position.

“When two giants of the party decide to take the contest up upon themselves, it’s no longer a battle between the youth organizers. It’s among certain individuals who are not on the ballot. That’s all I can say,” she said.

Bram-Larbi declined to identify the individuals when asked, instead urging the public to investigate the matter.

She further alleged that some delegates were being instructed on how to vote, arguing that such conduct undermined a merit-based contest.

“How can you be meeting people [and] delegate telling them that everybody should vote this way? It is highly unfair. If this is what they’ll be doing, [we are] not ready for power. I just think we are not ready,” she said.

Clarifying that her concerns were based on what she had observed rather than comments made about her candidacy, she said: “It’s not what people say, what people are doing.”

Bram-Larbi is contesting the position against Alfred Kumi Ababio, Michael Osei Boateng, Abanga Fuseini Yakubu, Clement Opoku Gyamfi and Chris Lloyd Nii Kwei Asamoah.

The election is scheduled for Saturday, October 3, at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi, with more than 7,000 delegates expected to vote under the supervision of the Electoral Commission.

If elected, Bram-Larbi would become the first woman to serve as the NPP’s National Youth Organiser.