Cracks In NDC

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Okaikoi South and former Minister of Information, Nana Akomea, has lamented the deepening cracks in the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), describing as unfortunate, government’s inability to handle the power given it by Ghanaians.

“Look at the words they use against each other. They have high profile people on one side of the party calling themselves peacocks, cockroaches and greedy bastards. The bottom line is that there is a crack in the NDC – the Rawlings faction and the Mills faction,” he said.

According to him, even though he should be happy as an opposition politician, to see members of the party spend a better part of their time fighting each other, he thought such a development could affect the conduct of national affairs.

He made these and other remarks when he appeared as a panelist on Metro TV’s ‘Good Morning Ghana’ programme yesterday.

“These people have been out of power for 8 years and they get the chance to come to power and in less than one year, look at what they are doing to themselves,” he said.

Nana Akomea, a former Information and Employment Minister during the John Agyekum Kufuor regime, described as pathetic a scene in his Okaikoi South Constituency during the recent Eid-ul-Adha celebration when the President Atta Mills faction of the NDC gleefully slaughtered a cow for the festivities, an event to which he (Akomea) was invited, while the Jerry Rawlings faction held a rather solemn meeting in a classroom.

According to Nana Akomea, the public outcry by foot soldiers and high ranking members of the party, which had resulted in the name-calling, was a clear indication that the party could not handle power.

The ruling party had been engulfed in a ding-dong battle for the past seven months with both high ranking and common floor members biting one another over a number of issues.

Ex-President Rawlings, the acclaimed founder of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), had consistently criticized President Mills over his style of governance, calling his government and ministers mediocre. He also fumed at the President for heeding the advice of Prophet T.B. Joshua as against those of his party people.

Not long after that, the Majority Leader in Parliament, Alban Bagbin, fired salvos at President Mills, saying he had surrounded himself with bootlickers.

The worst were the remarks of Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, a former Communications Minister in ex-President Rawlings’ government and leading member of the NDC, who described the cabinet as a bunch of Team-B players. The concerns he raised regarding the government drew criticisms and insults from some members of the Mills government such as Ato Ahwoi, Koku Ayindoho and many others.

Efforts to bring the two sides before a disciplinary committee hit the rocks, with the party General Secretary, Asiedu Nketia, tongue-lashing Spio.

In the midst of the confusion, President J. E. A. Mills directed his ministers and all other appointees to pay attention to party foot soldiers - a move that attracted the ire of a cross-section of Ghanaians who thought the President had betrayed the ‘father for all’ declaration during his swearing-in.

Following the chain of internal rancor, President Mills last Wednesday held a crisis meeting with some elders of the party, including Majority Leader, Alban Bagbin, to thrash out their concerns.

But observers said the absence of key complainants such as Jerry Rawlings, his wife Nana Konadu, and Spio-Garbrah was an indication that the journey to party unity was still jerky.

By Bennett Akuaku