NDC Unity walks just for fun - Professor Joshua Alabi

The retired Vice-Chancellor of the University of Professional Studies (UPS), Professor Joshua Alabi who is readying himself to contest the presidential primary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as flagbearer, has downplayed the effect of the party’s unity walks.

He described the exercise as fun indicating that twice he attended the events in Accra and Cape Coast respectively but it was just to have fun.

Leaders of the NDC have consistently stated that the unity walks are part of processes recommended by the 13-member Kwesi Botchwey Committee to unite the party following fallouts from the 2016 elections.

But the flagbearer hopeful in an interview with GhanaWeb’s Kyenkyenhene Boateng sought to suggest that the unity walks are exercises in futility as he was quoted as saying: "I was in the Accra and Cape Coast one. It was fun, I enjoyed it… good exercise. We were walking, there was a brass band and we enjoyed it”

On why he never addressed the gathering in the instances he attended, he described it as needless as he was only there for the fun alongside the physical exercise that came up with it.

“There was no need, I went for the fun and danced to the brass band music and after that, I left. I did not see any of my competitors. I only saw myself there”, he intimated.

His view on the party’s unity walks seems to vindicate the stance of Former Trade Minister, Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah that the much-touted unity walk by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has not achieved its intended purpose.

According to Dr Spio-Garbrah who is also seeking to lead the NDC, he said some the walks are not as unifying as they were intended to be or as they were announced to be.

“I have been a vice chairman of the party. When the party wants to undertake an exercise, we sit as a functional executive committee, we sit as a national executive committee and we say, ‘we shall do the following’ and the party will fund it; the party will organize it. Those walks are not currently being organized by the party as NDC.”

The largest opposition party embarked on the walk after its defeat in the 2016 general elections. So far it has been staged in a number of regions including the Central, Upper West and the Northern regions.

Some party executives and ex-President John Mahama have been addressing the gatherings. It is seen as one of the main activities to help reorganize the NDC and unify the grassroots of the party to help it recapture power in 2020.