We'll implement Botchwey report – Anyidoho

A Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress, Koku Anyidoho, has said the rank and file of the party will thoroughly implement the recommendations outlined in the report compiled by the Kwesi Botchwey Committee which was tasked to probe the defeat of the party in last year’s polls.

According to him, the party’s grassroots have, through the report, sent a strong message to the leadership of the party and so their concerns will be considered and addressed.

Speaking in an interview with Chief Jerry Forson, host of Ghana Yensom, on Accra100.5FM on Tuesday June 20, Mr Anyidoho said: “The party has structures: national to constituencies to the branches. The recommendation says we must go back to the organs and use those organs to operate.

“It means I, Koku Anyidoho, cannot bypass Chairman Obimpeh to go and do party activities in the Ashanti Region. That would mean I am creating a parallel structure and disrespecting the ones created by the party. That is what the report is telling us not to do.

“The grassroots is saying that it looks like in the last elections we ignored the grassroots and so we will follow what has been stated in the report and go back to the structures.”

The committee submitted its report to the party on Monday June 19 at the party’s headquarters in Accra.

In presenting the report, Prof Botchwey said: “We did a very comprehensive job of listening to everybody.

“Everybody spoke frankly and honestly. We do make a number of recommendations including a recommendation that the party put together a group of credible and eminent members of our party to undertake a peace-making and healing tour of the country and visit all key sectors and constituencies. We believe this is extremely important for purposes of creating the necessary conditions for any serious work that needs to be done in the way of party restructuring and renewal.

“We also have a recommendation that the party take steps to restore the integrity of the biometric register and the expanded Electoral College. Additionally, we recommend that steps be taken to restore the capacity and effectiveness of the party’s organs, especially to the branch level. We believe these organs are most critical because they are the party’s immediate connections with the people. We are, after all, a truly mass party.

“We also have recommendations on ways in which we can and must improve the collation of election results. We also believe that steps ought to be taken by the party to reconnect itself properly to our social democratic roots and the principal actors in these social democratic roots – the social forces that populate our social democratic base.