Azoka accused of incompetence and bullying tactics

The ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Northern Region, may soon be witnessing an essential change within the regional executive level of the party in the next regional congress of the party as party faithful are voicing serious concerns about the direction of the party in the region used to be one of the strongholds of the ruling party but now gradually seeing rapid erosion of its support, thanks to the seeming incompetence of the regional executives spearheaded by Sofo Azoka, the Regional Chairman.

According to credible information, many party bigwigs in the region have started campaigning seriously to rescue the party from its current situation of doldrums in the region, especially after the humiliating defeat of the party recently by the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) at the Kumbungu Constituency, a constituency that the party has won since the coming into being of the Fourth Republican Constitution in 1992.

The Al-Hajj has learnt that the various stakeholders of the party in the region and many observers have assigned various reasons why there is the need to rescue the party from the hands of the current crop of regional executives before the next general elections.

They pointed out that the poor performance of the Azoka-led regional executives in the 2012 general elections led to the party virtually surrendering 10 seats to the opposition NPP in the region many touted as one of the soft grounds for the ruling NDC.

According to political watchers in the region, theses drawbacks facing the party in the region are the results of incompetence, internal wrangling among the regional executives and selfishness.

Many party supporters at the grassroots have accused Sofo Azoka, the current chairman of the party in the region of bullying tactics and lamented the absence of Alhaji Abukari Sumani, whose demise automatically led to the ascension of Azoka to the chairmanship of the party as the First Vice-Chairman.

One person whose intention to contest Mr. Azoka for the position of First Vice-Chairmanship of the party and has been gladly welcomed by the rank and file of the party, is Alhaji Sumani Mohammed (Zolkuli), the son of the former regional chairman of the party, Alhaji Abukari Sumani.

The Al-Hajj has gathered that what has boosted the chances of Zolkuli in the impending electoral battle is the goodwill and sacrifices of his father to the NDC party in the region as many people are angling for the return of the meritorious service the late party chairman has offered the party.

Alhaji Mohammed who is one of the children of the late Alhaji Sumani Zolkuli, the popular, longest serving Northern Regional Chairman of the NDC; is also a well-known Tamale based contractor and a young but enterprising entrepreneur in the region.

Alhaji Mohammed (Zolkuli) confirmed in an exclusive interview with The Al-Hajj that, he was indeed lacing his boots to contest as the party’s First Vice Chairman position for the region when the party officially opens nomination.

According to him, he has started a subtle but rather strategic campaign for the position including face-to-face interactions with party members in order to familiarize himself with those who would vote at the party’s congress.

“The legacy of my father in the party both within the region and outside is there for everybody to see, but I don’t intend to use that as the basis on which I am contesting that position,” he said.

He, however, admitted that, he intends to use the goodwill of his father and his political contact during his campaign, “my dad was a political father in the region, his posture won souls for the party, he had friends across the political divide and that is a mark of a political leader, such attributes I will not shy away to use when I win”.

He stated that, his intent to contest was not to amass wealth for himself or his family but to work hand in hand with other executives and the grassroots to help capture more seats for the party, come the next general elections.

The next crop of leadership of the party according to him will need to do a lot of work to win the trust and confidence of the party supporters especially the grassroots in order to be able to work with them.

He stressed that, the current party regional executives are virtually doing nothing to consolidate the party's fortunes in the region, 'the executives are not in touch with the grassroots of the party; they are only interested in government contracts to the detriment of the overall party functions'.

“The party is fragmented in the region, and if care is not taken come 2016 elections the party will loss all the seats to the NPP…we have loss 10 seats to the NPP in the 2012 elections and this by-elections to the CPP, so what does this tell us?. It is an indication of a non-performing party executives and machinery”, he said.

He emphasized that, the party executives in the region need a pure and thorough overhauling to reunite with the grassroots of the party, to win future elections; adding that, the party youth are aggrieved about the nefariousness and non-performance of the executives.

There is, however, a growing call from party members both big and small alike on the regional executives to step down and hand-over power to people who are not self-centered, people who are actually committed to the development of the party as well as the wellbeing of its members.