NDC prepares for congress

THE National Democratic Congress (NDC), for the first time since its formation in 1992, goes to congress next month not as the ruling party but as the largest opposition political entity in the country.
The last 10 months has witnessed functionaries and members of the NDC trying to come to terms with its new role in Ghanaian politics after managing the affairs of the nation for the past eight years unhindered.
The fact is some of its functionaries are still in a state of shock and bewilderment, following its defeat at the last polls both in the presidential and parliamentary elections by the New Patriotic Party (NPP), since they had perceived that the party would administer the state into the foreseeable future.
However, the NDC has seen some wisdom in one development that the writer always harped on; that is election of people of clout and respect to national and regional executive positions.
The fact is, since the days of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the executive arm of the government had always held sway over party decisions much to the detriment of democracy in the country.
In all circumstances, the party executive looks feeble in the eyes of the so-called members of the executive branch of the government, who dictate the pace and direction of the party as well as mobilise finance for its operations.
To be brutally frank, one of the factors that led to the defeat of the NDC was the fact that its national leadership could not control the activities of the executive arm of the government. In other words, they shivered before it and could not point out some of the mistakes that some ministers did and for that matter incurred the displeasure of the masses.
This development also perhaps led to a situation where the party was, to a reasonable extent, alienated from the very masses who voted it into power.
One factor that most minister’s of state fail to realise is that without a strong and vibrant political machinery, a party cannot win power for them to be appointed to such positions of trust and responsibility.
Regional and national party functionaries should be empowered by their constitutions to call errant ministers to order and if possible recommend to the President to strip them of their portfolios.
News reaching this writer indicates that the NDC has recognised some of its shortcomings and is making efforts to ensure that men and women of substance who command the respect of the rank and file are elected to regional and national executives positions.
The grapevine indicates that former ministers like Dr Obed Asamoah, Alhaji Iddrisu Mahama, Mr Samuel Vallis Akyianu, Dr Ato Quarshie, Mr Owusu Acheampong are all contemplating of vying for national and regional executive positions of the party.
In this way, they will be bringing their wealth of experience to bear on the activities of the party.
The party has already undertaken a nationwide exercise to sample views and opinions of its supporters to fashion to good strategy and tactics in its bid to capture political power from the NPP in the next elections.
The leadership of the NDC has a number of problems on its hands to contend with. This includes maintaining its existing supporters and finding ways to bring back to its ranks those who have joined other political parties, reactivation of their structures, educating their supporters on the party's positions on social and economic developments in the country, and most importantly mobilising and raising funds to support its programmes for the next three years.
Even though the party has formed a number of sub-committees to find solutions to the aforementioned factors, the enormity of such problems should never be underestimated, since its success will depend on the commitment and finance available to it.
The question is, will functionaries of the party be prepared to make funds available for the organisation of the party, considering the fact that the party is now in opposition? Time will tell.