Crisis Rocks NDP

The woes of the breakaway National Democratic Party (NDP) have worsened with the resignation of its interim general secretary, Dr. Joseph Mamboah-Rockson, just a day before its congress in Kumasi.

Delegates of the party are congregating at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium, Kumasi, today for the maiden congress of the NDP, a breakaway faction of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Buses were seen ferrying delegates to the Kumasi congress yesterday.

The Baba Yara Sports Stadium, venue for the event, was receiving a facelift, with party members busily erecting canopies and arranging seats.

Streets leading to the stadium had been adorned with the green, black and red colours. A total of 1,150 delegates, five from each of the 275 constituencies, are expected to be on hand to decide who leads them to battle for political power on December 7.

There would also be the launch of the party’s election manifesto and the approval of its constitution.

Jerry Nketia, a member of the national communication team, told the GNA that they were confident of a successful congress with adequate security arrangements made. Former President Jerry John Rawlings would address the gathering.

There would also be solidarity messages from the other political parties.

Dr. Mamboah-Rockson’s resignation comes less than 24 hours after similar resignations by key members of the party in the Upper East region for reasons yet to be made public.

The acting general secretary, who announced his resignation in Tamale early Friday, claimed he was resigning alongside regional executives of the NDP in the three northern regions and would now pitch camp with the National Democratic Congress.

Dr. Mamboah-Rockson, according to sources, was in the region to mobilise members of the party for its delegates’ congress in Kumasi today but made a U-turn with several explanations. According to him, the formation of the party was to serve as an alternative for disillusioned members of the ruling NDC following the bad leadership under the late President John Evans Atta Mills.

He told the press that the conduct of the late president was inimical to the fortunes of the NDC as it gave birth to elitism and cabalism.

In addition, he said, there was deep-seated corruption in the NDC while its members verbally attacked the founder of the party.

“The birth of the NDP earlier this year was because of the behavior of the late President John Atta Mills. The party that he led since 2009 developed a very stubborn [character]; it developed elitism, cabalism which was not a good omen for the people of Ghana; it resulted in corruption and insults rained whenever the founder of the NDC wanted to comment on situation in the party; some of us were very angry because of the insults that were meted out to the former president, JJ Rawlings,” he said.

He explained that following the assumption of President John Mahama, several efforts had been made to strengthen the unity in the NDC; hence his decision to resign to rejoin his mother party.

Sources are however alleging that Dr. Mamboah-Rockson has been won over to destabilise the NDP as he was the man urging the party not to field a presidential candidate in order to woo the Rawlingses to get involved in the party.

Dr. Mamboah-Rockson, earlier this week, reportedly pleaded with Nana Konadu to accept the flagbearership slot, claiming she was the best to lead the party.

New Secretary

The leadership of the NDP has indicated that it is unfazed by the resignation of its interim secretary and has appointed Hayford Francis Amoako as a replacement.

In a press release signed by Mohammed Frimpong, he disclosed that Hayford Francis Amoako was a former Member of Parliament for the Nkoranza Constituency in the Brong Ahafo Region.

The NDP also rebutted claims that a National Executive Committee decided that the NDP would contest only parliamentary seats and not field a presidential candidate, as stated by Dr. Mamboah-Rockson in his resignation address.

It also warned rabble-rousers to stay off its congress grounds as its intelligence gathered indicated that efforts were being made to infiltrate its rank by paid imposters.

According to the release, the imposters, per the information, would use deliberate misinformation purportedly emanating from the NDP to cause confusion at the congress grounds.

It appealed to the media and general public to cross-check any information or statement purporting to come from the NDP from the party’s headquarters via its communications director, general secretary and chairman.

NDC Accuses NPP

THE Ashanti regional NDC has accused the NPP of throwing its men to support the NDP congress. “Our intelligence indicates that the largest opposition is supplying their members to show nonexistent support to the new party’s congress in Kumasi tomorrow,” the Ashanti regional secretary of the NDC, Joseph Yammin, said.

In a release to the press on Friday, he said, “These supporters of our opponents are being drawn from the Northern Regions, Brong Ahafo Region and some parts of Ashanti Regions to give support to the NDP.”

Yammin entreated the NDC supporters in the Ashanti Region to remain focused on their campaign and not to engage in undemocratic activities that had the tendency of bringing down the NDC and disturbing Ghana’s peace.

Upper East Resignation

The entire interim Upper East regional executive of the NDP resigned yesterday ahead of the congress. They said they had returned to the NDC because they were misled into joining the new party and could no long stay there after seeing the truth.

According to a statement issued at a press conference in Bolgatanga, the former NDP members said it had become clear that the new party was formed just for the purpose of destroying the NDC and they would not like to be part of such a plan.

The defection of the 32 interim regional executives came just a day after three interim executives in the Northern Region also returned to the NDC at a press conference at Jisonayili, a suburb of Tamale.

The interim Upper East regional chairman of the NDP, Emmanuel Kwame Atibila, told DAILY GUIDE after the press conference that since they joined the NDP, everything that had to be done had been funded by individual executives, an act which they saw as abnormal in the political business.

“Even this congress in Kumasi, we expected that some resources would be sent to the region, so that we can also mobilise our people to go to Kumasi to participate, but so far nothing has come and how can we run a political party this way. We expect that since Mrs. Rawlings is the ultimate beneficiary of the party, she must push some funds to run the party across the country. We don’t know what is happening; we can’t see our way clearly and that is why we think it is better for us to defect to our mother party now before it is too late.”

They were received back into the NDC fold by a youth activist of the party delegated from Accra, Sidii Abubakari Musah, and the Bolgatanga Constituency youth organizer, Ayamba Rockson Atamale.

After the press conference, the former NDP executives drove the party’s Hardbody pick-up with registration number GM 386–12 to the office of the Motor Transport and Traffic Unit in Bolgatanga to hand it over to the police for safe keeping, but the MTTU officers on duty refused to take custody of the vehicle.