Internal Democracy In NDC Has Improved Tremendously - Obed Asamoah

Dr. Obed Asamoah, Founder and Chairman of the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), says his decision to reunite with the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is as a result of the marked improvement and breezy wind of positive internal democracy currently pervading in the ruling party.

According to him, the democratic atmosphere in the NDC has improved greatly ever since he broke away from the party some years ago.

And so, after countless discussions with the NDC and President Mills, both parties have agreed to let bygones be bygones and fashion out ways of working together again.

“We have agreed to reunite with the NDC after a meeting with the President some months ago where we agreed to let bygones be bygones and try to work out together so we are creating a committee that will discuss the modalities of the cooperation. The reason why we decided to rejoin was because the democratic atmosphere in the NDC has improved,” he explained.

The DFP was founded by some aggrieved members of the NDC after the infamous Koforidua Congress in 2006.

Dr. Asamoah parted ways with the NDC days after the Koforidua congress, with other senior members of the NDC including then acting General Secretary, Bede Ziedeng, and Frances Assiam, a former Women's Organiser, after some sharp disagreement with the founder, ex-president Rawlings.

Speaking in an interview with Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM’s flagship programme “Kokrokoo”, he was full of praise for his former party’s successful organization of the Sunyani Congress and the Tamale Conference which was devoid of any form of violence.

An ex-National Chairman of the NDC, Dr. Obed Asamoah noted that one of the reasons for the breakaway was the refusal by the party to recognize the right of any person to contest a position, but with the former First Lady, Nana Konadu being given the green light to contest even the sitting president, then times have indeed changed.

He disclosed that the former President at that time was not prepared to concede to the idea of someone else (Dr. Kwesi Botchwey) contesting the flagbearership.

“The Rawlingses at one time were not prepared to concede the idea of someone else (Dr. Kwesi Botchwey) contesting, but now I believe it doesn’t lie in their mouths to deny anybody the right to contest any position in the party. The atmosphere has changed and the organization of the congress in Sunyani and also earlier in Tamale indicates that they have addressed the issue of people coming to the congress area to intimidate people. This time the delegates were separated from the observers so you don’t have that opportunity to intimidate. In Koforidua, they were mingled in the congress hall and any time the delegates went in and out there were threatened with all kinds of physical harm…that was not a very healthy situation. But I think now they have addressed some of the abuses of the past in order to create a more democratic atmosphere and that is something to be appreciated,” he added.

He sided with the assertion that the Rawlingses have been cut to size and their hold on the NDC badly shaken following the results of the Sunyani presidential primary, noting that the former president at a point in time became a cult figure and develop a culture of impunity simply because he was being hero-worshipped by some elements within the NDC.