Interesting Times Ahead For The Ndc

From Akropong Constituency through Dome-Kwabenyah to Agona-East, the NDC is redefining itself. The so-called establishment candidates with unbridled access to money to money and unfettered power to bribe and coerce delegates to vote for them are giving way to unknown names and the less financially endowed candidates.

First to fall was the NDC Chairman’s wife, Comfort Adubea Adjei. Interestingly, the party chairman’s wife and the wife of Kofi Totobi Quakyi, Mrs. Mabel Totobi Quakyi, who had to be prevailed upon to allow Adubea to contest, are both individuals who would be described as establishment candidates who were vociferous against the candidacy of Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, who contested the President John Evans Atta-Mills, within her constitutional and democratic right. Totobi Quakyi describes himself as the hatchet man of the Mills administration. And for him, and his associate to be crestfallen with the delegates of the party, then the center must, indeed, be refusing to hold. Totobi Quakyi and the wife were conveniently dribbled by the chairman of the party. These individuals and their husbands were against the candidacy of Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings not because she was contesting John Evans Atta-Mills, but because she is the wife of the former leader, Jerry John Rawlings. Adubea could be heard saying again and again openly that “what at all is it that Rawlings had not been able to achieve in his 20-year rule and it has to take the wife to complete the husband’s unfinished business?” The same question has been implicitly posed to her by the NDC delegates at the Akropong Constituency Primaries and she has failed to answer that. Kofi Totobi Quakyi, where is your locus in the NDC? Dr. Kwabena Adjei where is your locus in the NDC?

The difference between her and Konadu, however, is that while Konadu has accepted the results and has since learned to live with it, she is making ugly noise all over the place that she would be voting skirt-and-blouse, a term implying she would vote for the president but not vote for her party’s candidate. Who cares who she votes for, anyway? She can go to hell. What would have been Kwabena Adjei/Adubea, Totobi Quakye and the wife’s reaction had Konadu pronounced she would vote “skirt-and-blouse” or she would go independent? This earth, indeed my brother! What they should understand – the Adjei and the Totobi Quakyi clique – is that when you point your forefinger at your perceived opponent, the remainder of the fingers point back at you. I hope they have learned some vital lessons and would learn to live with the outcome than be making this unnecessary noise around and be disturbing the peace of Ghanaians.

For Zita Okaikoi, the former Information Minister, who contested the Dome-Kwabenya primaries (while the husband is struggling to contest the Okaikoi Constituency), it was too obvious the constituency was trying to avoid a looming embarrassment. Until her premature departure from government, she was seen as very incompetent and lacking the art of statecraft. Her shoving off from government was a welcome riddance for many party affiliates, sympathizers, and staunch supporters. There are also issues of money and the morality of flying out of Ghana to the United States of America to deliver her baby in a bid to get an American citizenship for her baby. There are many more embarrassing issues which the NPP opposition would have used to discredit her and retain the seat. Now that she is elbowed out of the contest, the NPP will have to face a better candidate and chances are that this new candidate might do a significant damage to the NPP in that constituency.

Then the most devastating and interesting news of the day was to come from the Agona-East Constituency. After allegedly splashing an estimated 2 billion cedis (about US$150, 000) bribing delegates, the omnipotent Kwesi Ahwoi (the Agricultural Minister ) of “The Self-Proclaimed Great Ahwoi Family”and the brother of Ato Ahwoi, the defacto Prime Minister of Ghana and megalomanic Kwamina Ahwoi, , seen as the President’s special-special-special aide de camp, has been shoved off by the delegates. I hope there are lessons in this story for the president and his team of advisors to learn. The delegates are sending a clear special “message” to the President, especially when this is coming out of his (the President’s) own home region, and it would have dire consequences if the President and his team of advisers should ignore this message! This outcome is even more worrying when it is a known fact that Kwesi Ahwoi walked over his opponent with unbridled access to money and so much political influence and power.

History, the say, teaches nothing, it just keep recurring. It is unfortunate that Kwesi Ahwoi, Ato Ahwoi, and Kwamina Ahwoi, and their cohorts are relying on MONEY to influence delegates, while it has been proven that money does not necessarily win elections in Ghana. If you think am lying go and ask Akufo Addo and Alan Cash!

Finally, while the delegates are redefining the party, the structure is bent on maintaining the cancerous parts of the party. The tide is moving towards the Volta region, the so-called world bank of the NDC, where the primaries are the most difficult hurdle to going to parliament! The President and his team must brace up for more shock! Ablakwa and co must brace up for disgrace! If the GREENS LEAVES are burning, what would happen to the DRY ones?

The reemergence of Obed Asamoah and the entrance of Major Boakye Gyan are issues which will be revisited in a subsequent article.

NDC delegates in Agona-East, Akropong, and Dome-Kwabenya, we say ayeeeeeee nyeeeee koooooooo! Mua ye adeeee paaaa! Miawoe wor dor kakaaka!!!