Daily Statesman monitoring of National Democratic Congress constituency elections indicates that not only are former President John Dramani Mahama’s sponsored MPs and old executives losing out in a whirlwind of change, but ex-President Jerry John Rawlings’s challenge to the party’s national executives, to cleanse the NDC if they want him to contribute to their Election 2020 campaign, is bearing fruit in constituencies across Ghana.
Reporting from the regions, our correspondents say that apart from a few areas which maintained their chairmen for conciliatory reasons – such as Okere in the Eastern Region ‒ most witnessed a revolutionary overhaul of executives. It sends a clear message to Mahama and the NDC leadership, our reporters say, that the foot soldiers want change.
The trend also shows that Mahama, MPs who served his cause and national executives who ran the NDC’s ill-fated December 2016 campaign are on the way out, to be replaced by winning teams at regional and national level at the next delegates’ congress, which will also elect a flagbearer for the main opposition party.
Central skirmishes
In the turbulent Central Region, where executives on the Ekumfi home turf of late President John Evans Atta Mills and his brother Cadman were shuffled like playing cards, the men who answer to Mahama, party secretary Johnson Asiedu Nketia and chairman Kofi Portuphy lost miserably to new faces in the EC-supervised elections.
There were intermittent skirmishes and police were called in to restore calm.
The change was also notable in Cape Coast, where delegates picked a compromise candidate in the person of Dr Adams Usmanu, who stood unopposed. Another moderate candidate, Dr Shaibu Bukari, also won the slot of first vice-chairman.
The swansong of change also hit Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem, where John Quachcoe polled 631 to beat two other contestants and win the chairmanship. There were sweeping changes of the local executives, particularly constituency secretaries and organisers.
In Cape Coast South, Korankye Taylor beat the incumbent, Mohammed Muftao, to the chairmanship, while George Kuofie was elected vice-chairman. Other winners were Nanka Bruce (organiser), Papa Hassan (youth organiser), Aggrey Fynn (treasurer), George Arthur (secretary), Ama Korsah (women’s organiser) and Akosua Ofosua (communications officer).
In the Assin North area of the same region, Felix Benefoh was elected chairman and Haruna Ali as his deputy, again recording sweeping changes to the old order. The same trend was recorded in neighbouring Upper Denkyira East ‒ but also in Bawku Central (Upper East).
Confusion
Media reports say that in the turbulent Bawku Central area, where Mahama Ayariga has been flexing his muscles since the days of the late firebrand Hawa Yakubu, a new set of executives had been elected to run NDC affairs, in a victory that may deflate Ayariga’s ego, shrink his political space and give the New Patriotic Party the edge in 2020’s parliamentary and presidential elections.
According to our reporters, all the old NDC executives lost. Party faithful have described the poll as a revolution to clean up politics in Bawku.
Richard Kofi Boahen, our correspondent resident in Brong-Ahafo, reports that confusion marred the elections in some parts of the region.
Two out of the 29 constituencies in Brong-Ahafo ‒ Sunyani East and Jaman South ‒ postponed voting because of difficulties relating to their electoral roll.
In lead-up to the polls, some constituency executives resigned from their positions, citing reasons implying that there was no level playing field and the process was unfair.
In response to a petition brought by one Isaac Kyereh, Techiman North NDC also suspended its secretary, Isaac Adabsah, for violating the party’s constitution. The complaint alleges that Adabsah is not a registered voter in the constituency.
The secretary, it says, also unilaterally scanned regulations and guidelines and printed only two-page rather than seven-page documents, attaching these to nomination forms handed out to aspirants. The deception conspired to favour Adabsah, the complaint says, in violation of Articles 15, 45(c) and 40 (I)d of the NDC’s constitution.
Fighting inside
In Jaman North, the incumbent chairman, Alhaji Braima Adams, resigned 24 hours to the elections, citing unfair processes.
“My decision has been unexpected but has been taken in the best interest of the party since events preceding the Saturday [June 23] election seem to predict future internal [strife] within the party even after I have won,” Adams said in his resignation letter, dated June 22.
In Sunyani East, delegates arrived in numbers at the Twene Amanfo Secondary/Technical School, the local venue for the election, but were disappointed to realise that some names had been left off the voters’ roll.
Not all 165 delegates could find their name in the register. The situation led to loud arguments and a halt in proceedings.
Although some delegates eventually managed to cast their ballot, the process was later abandoned. The date for a rescheduled vote is yet to be made known.
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