NDC abandons Navrongo

Navrongo (Northern Region) – The statesman can authoritatively report that the opposition NDC has abandoned its dream of winning the next Tuesday’s Navrongo by-election. As at 2:00pm on Monday when this report was filed, not a single high profile NDC executive from Accra had pitched camp in the constituency whose capital, Navrongo is 845km from Accra the national capital.

Unlike the Wulensi by-election, which saw NDC heavyweights, led by Prof Mills, storming the constituency, Navrongo has seen very little of the party which until recently ruled the north. This paper’s investigations indicate that the situation is not helped by the thickening of bad blood between the Rawlings-Mills and the Obed-Botchwey wing of the party.

This virtual throwing of the towel into the electoral ring appears the more worrying considering NDC’s Clement Bugase narrowly lost to the late John Achiluwor by143 voter points in the 2000 parliamentary bout. But, indicate of this psychological loss of electoral-confidence, after three straight knock-outs from the “Elephant” is the NDC’s apparent flirtation with the idea of backing PNC candidate Gabriel Pwamang.

The Parliamnetary Minority leader and MP for Nadawli South, Alban Bagbin, whose arrival in the Nnavrongo on Saturday sent a glimmer of hope to the local NDC faithfuls, left six hours aboard the very Ghana Air force jet which brought him and a government delegation to Achiluwor’s funeral.

However, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Ferdinand Ayim and Dan Botwe stayed on in Navrongo to shore up the advance party of the National Organiser, Lord Commey, the National Youth Organiser, Mustapha Hamid, Women’s Organiser Rita Asobayere and the Regional campaign team.