The Dispatch, a private newspaper in Accra, has alleged that former first lady, Nana Konadu Agyemang-Rawlings is a stumbling block to the minority NDC’s attempts at effective re-organisation.
“Whilst Nana Konadu has not personally expressed interest in the party’s leadership, close associates have been doing the rounds among various constituencies – Nana should lead the party to the 2004 presidential elections,” the paper alleged.
Readers will recall that in the run-up to the December 2000 elections, there were credible speculations, backed later by open statements from some leading members of the NDC that they would have preferred her as the party’s presidential candidate. Her silence on these speculations led to intense in-fighting, which sought of calmed down when through her lawyers, she came public that she was not interested in running for office, the paper said.
The NDC’s reorganisation has concluded its nation-wide tour and reports have been completed, to be discussed at the December 21-23, 2001 National Delegates’ Congress.
An important benchmark of the NDC’s future will be how the various factions bury their differences, the paper said although NDC insiders insist that there are no such factions in the party. Minority leader, Alban Bagbin told newsinghana in an interview that such factions are only perceived but are not real. The factions have been labelled in the Ghanaian media as the Rawlings group, Volta group, the Northern Caucus and the Fante Confederacy.
According to the Dispatch, three of the factions – Northern Caucus, Fante Confederacy and the Volta group are all in agreement that the party should be spared the name “Rawlings” for the next elections.
