Let’s wait for Botchwey Committee report – Spio Garbrah

Members of the National Democratic Congress will need to cease the blame game in the media and allow the Kwesi Botchwey Committee, tasked with probing the causes of the party’s defeat in the 2016 election, to come out with its findings, Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, a former Minister of Trade and Industry, has urged.

The party, following its electoral loss to the New Patriotic Party, which has seen it return to opposition, set up a 13-member committee led by former Finance Minister Dr Kwesi Botchwey, to look into the factors for its defeat.

However, even before the committee completes its work, some leading figures within the NDC have publicly traded accusations and pointed the finger at others within for the party’s woes.

Greater Accra Regional Secretary Anthony Nukpenu, former party chairman Kwabena Adjei, NDC Abuakwa North parliamentary candidate Ambassador Victor Smith, and many others have publicly aired their views on what caused the party’s defeat.

Yunyoo MP Joseph Bipoba Naabu, in an interview in March with Class News, also described President John Mahama’s as “incompetent”, saying his inept running of the party and country and bad decisions cost the NDC in last December’s polls.

National Organiser Kofi Adams has warned top officials involved in media rants that the party may consider disciplinary action against them for their comments.

Speaking on Citi FM on Monday April 3, Mr Spio-Garbrah said the NDC was at present “broken” and efforts were currently focused on getting the party back on its feet for the 2020 polls.

“The situation in our party is really one of building the party and letting it recover from a very severe electoral loss. It is just like driving a very good car and the car has an accident and it needs to be fixed, so the first thing you want to do is take it to the mechanic’s and let the electricians do their work, check the transmission, take care of the brakes, the shock absorbers. Then when the car is in a good condition almost any driver can drive it and potentially bring it to the victory line,” he explained.

“… If the car has broken down and you put the best driver in the car, the car cannot move and the car will certainly not win a race, so our concentration now is to help the Kwesi Botchwey committee and the party secretariat.”

He, thus, urged party members and Ghanaians in general to cease ascribing reasons for the party’s electoral defeat and await the report of the Botchwey Committee.

“There is a committee of very fine brains going round to collate concerns and when they file their report we will all see where they claim or think the problems went,” the former CEO of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation urged.