It is unprecedented to see a party in power wrapped in so many internal wrangling than we’ve seen in NDC in recent times.
Barely a month after word went out for party members to vie for constituency and regional offices, we have seen a tsunami of court injunctions raging from all corners.
One would think that NDC would take a clue from the NPP, and manage their elections a little decently so as to avoid the slew of court cases we are seeing today.
If you thought the NPP internal elections were bad, you’ve seen nothing yet. Of course, for a party like NPP that prides itself as the beacon democracy in Ghanaian politics, any petty squabbles will generate public interest. But, when a party like NDC pounced on such issues and spin it in an attempt to label the NPP as violent, tribalistic and undemocratic, then it leaves one to wonder what NDC is about.
At the moment, the fire in NDC can only be likened to the one that gutted the biblical Sodom and Gomorrah; In Greater Accra region alone, there are 46 cases against the regional secretariat.
Chairman Ade Coker and his executives are fighting a gang of aspirants who were apparently rejected from contesting various constituency positions on baseless grounds. The same is the case in Western Region and Ashanti Region. There are other similar issues in other regions which are being swept under the rug by the national executives.
On the national front, the spat between Anita Desooso and Mr. Kofi Portuphy cannot be ignored, neither can we treat the fight between Yaw Boateng Gyan and Kofi Andam as a meager political jingoism. How about Dr. Kwabena Agyei and Mr. Kofi Portuphy?
At the moment there is a court case challenging the legitimacy of the current national executives, thereby rendering their power to sanction constituency and regional elections illegitimate. An order from the judge siting on the case to the party settle the case outside the court is falling on deaf ears, as the plaintiff in the case is not budging to pressures from the party apparatchiks to settle the case. Folks, this is just the beginning, you should not be surprised to see more of these especially when it gets to the presidential primaries. It is an open secret that camps are being formed in addition to the existing ones to challenge the president for the flag bearer-ship position.
The Fante confederation led by the Ahwois are propping up their chosen son, Dr. Spio Garbrah to lead the party in 2016.
The Volta caucus is canvasing for the Speaker of the house, Hon. Doe Adjaho,the Gas are rooting for their darling Dr. Alfred Oko Vanderpuije and the Northern caucus are sticking with the president. For the fear of a possible split of the party, as it happened in 2000 with breaking away of Reform Party and recently in 2012 with National Democratic Party led by the wife of NDC founder, Nana Kunadu Agyeman Rawlings.
At the moment, there are high level discussions going on between the executive and representatives of theses caucuses to sacrifice the vice president, in additions to some ministerial concessions to satiate whichever of these groups may prove hard to crack. So far, it seems like the Voltarians are going to get their wish for all obvious reasons, not to mention the Rawlings factor.
Mr. Rawlings who is the founder of the party has shown his frustration with President Mahama for the way he’s managing the affairs of the country and has chided him for his mediocre ministerial appointments. On numerous occasions, he had questioned why these mediocre ministers he calls “greedy bastards with sharp teeth” are in government at the expense of the most experience party cadres who served under him.
Rawlings’s constant vituperation of Mahama seems to be working. So far it has ensure that some of his men are brought back into the government.
Connoisseurs have it that this internal wrangling is going to only increase and may well split the National Democratic Congress if the hot heads in the party are not tamed and immediate steps taken to address these militating issues.
It is interesting that the NDC echelon and its propaganda machine are lip-tight on these crisis that have raise their ugly heads in the party. But, they are quick to talk about NPP and its’ issues.