NDC didn't lose because of Rawlings - Smith

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) did not lose the 2016 elections because its founder Jerry John Rawlings failed to be part of the party’s campaign, Ghana’s former High Commissioner to the UK, Mr Victor Smith has said.

The former Abuakwa North MP aspirant told Francis Abban on Accra-based Starr FM on Wednesday, 17 May that Mr Rawlings would not have made any difference in the elections had he joined the NDC’s campaign.

Francis Abban: Was the Rawlings factor missing in the 2016 elections?

Victor Smith: I don’t think so.

Francis Abban: If he [were] in the thick of things with the campaigns, you don’t think it would have changed anything?

Victor Smith: Personally no, I don’t think so. I don’t think so because it is also part of the mistakes that we need to talk about. Some things should have been managed in a particular way that could have prevented, if you like, disenchantment in our party. That for me contributed in a big way to [NDC’s loss]. Look, how many people did President Nana Addo get compared to 2012? Not much of a difference but we lost badly and I think it was because of those mistakes that we made as a party and that obviously probably included the fact that some people were unhappy with some of the utterances of the former president and some actions or inactions of some kind created apathy in our party for some of the members so some of them said ‘I am not even interested in going to vote’ not because we lost a particular person so much ….

Meanwhile, Mr Smith has revealed that he and Mr Rawlings are not on talking terms.

He described his relationship with his former boss as “not the best.”

Mr Smith was fired by Mr Rawlings as his spokesperson on 9 April 2008 via text message ahead of that year’s general elections after he (Mr Smith) supported late Prof John Mills’ choice of John Mahama as running mate at the time, against the wishes of the Rawlingses.

Asked about his current relationship with the former President, Mr Smith said: “I hardly see. I don’t call him. We do send messages sometimes if I find out he is saying things or doing things that are hurting our party and I say: ‘Chief please don’t do it, don’t do this’, and he doesn’t take it in good faith but hey that’s all I can say but we don’t talk, I don’t call him, he doesn’t call me, I don’t see him anywhere because I don’t go to maybe where he goes to.”

According to him, he bears Mr Rawlings no grudges for dispensing of him the way he did. “I didn’t hold anything against him,” the twice failed Abuakwa North parliamentary candidate said, adding: “… I certainly was not angry with him … I saw the funny side of it.”