The ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) has eventually decided to participate in the presidential debate organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA).

The party had earlier decided not to take part in the debate as communicators of the government and the NDC described the IEA as an appendage of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP).

But the party, whose propaganda secretary, Richard Quashigah, once said, “We in the NDC do not think that platform offers the effective and potent approach to selling your message and persuading the electorate to really vote for you”, made a u-turn yesterday.

This was when the leadership of the NDC, led by its General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu-Nketia, invited officials of the institute over to its Kokomlemle offices, indicating that President John Dramani Mahama had decided to participate in the presidential debate and any programme the institute organises.

“He (referring to President Mahama) has requested me to indicate to you his preparedness to participate in the evening encounters and subsequent debate,” he emphasised.

That, he said, was because President Mahama believed in the quality of constructive engagements with all stakeholders in society and the fact that he was only a caretaker president who had never participated in a presidential debate.

In view of this, General Mosquito, as he is affectionately called, said it was not difficult for him to reconsider the position of the party in the past.

The leader of the IEA delegation that went to the NDC headquarters, Esi Sutherland, welcomed the decision, saying, “We are extremely pleased and it is something that we cherish and we’ll make it possible to ensure he participates.”

The latest decision comes as a surprise to many Ghanaians, especially political watchers in view of the manner in which key and influential members had earlier bastardised the institute, raising issues about its credibility.

Some believe the party’s initial position of non-participation was not due to credibility issues it had with the IEA but instead the ill health of then President John Evans Atta Mills.

The Issues

Prior to the NDC making its decision not to participate in the IEA debate, sources at the Castle had told DAILY GUIDE that the late President Mills was not likely to partake in the exercise and that his advisors had counseled him against engaging in such an activity since they believed it was an attempt by the institute to ridicule him publicly.

A youth group in the NDC, operating under the cover of Team of Popular Youth (TOPY), sent a petition to the IEA to question the integrity and neutrality of individuals who had been constituted to regulate the encounter, even though it was a similar IEA platform that offered then candidate Mills and other presidential candidates the opportunity to market their programmes and ideas before the 2000, 2004 and the 2008 elections.

Another member of the party’s communications team, who writes under the pseudonym Margaret Jackson, posted a similar article on Ghanaweb.com in which ‘he’ made disparaging remarks about certain individuals including Rev. Dr. Mensa Otabil, General Overseer of ICGC, who is also the chairman of the committee, Jean Mensah, Executive Director, IEA; Prof. Ivan Addae Mensah, Chairman, Petroleum Commission; Prof. Steven Adei, former Rector GIMPA and Ambassador Kabral Blay Amihere, Chairman of the National Media Commission.

Others included Justice Emile Short, former Commissioner of CHRAJ; Maulvi Wahab Adam, Ameer in charge of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission; Dr. Rose Mensah Kutin, Executive Director, ABANTU; Kofi Asamoah, General Secretary, TUC; Tony Oteng Gyasi- former president of AGI/Managing Director-Tropical Cables and Prof. Esi Sutherland-Addy, Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana.