NDC on the verge of breaking up – Rawlings

The founder of the National Democratic Congress, Jerry John Rawlings is seeing the party losing the 2020 general elections if things are not done right at its branch level.

Mr. Rawlings who is a former president of Ghana observed that the recently held NDC elections at the branches were flouted with malpractices. Branches are smaller groupings of the NDC within constituencies.

Mr. Rawlings said: “I have observed that certain elements in the party who are supposed to be unbiased arbiters and supervisors in these elections are rather pursuing a parochial agenda that is not in the party’s interest.

“These limited victories are like winning a battle and losing the war. We witnessed this in the selection of our parliamentary candidates in the 2016 elections, which partly accounted for our humiliating defeat in that election.”

The party founder made the above revelation in a statement issued by his office following a meeting with the leadership of the NDC including its General Secretary Johnson Asiedu Nketiah concerning petitions Mr. Rawlings received on alleged breaches in the branch elections.

“We are on the verge of breaking up the NDC if we pursue this path. The National Executive Committee has to take a serious look at the entire branch electoral process and ascertain whether they have been held in an open, free and fair manner devoid of foul play and deliberate abuse,” Flt Lt. Rawlings stated.

He noted that although the General Secretary confirmed at the meeting that he had already directed some elections to be cancelled and re-conducted in some of the areas he had toured, “the Founder has however learnt that the situation in Kpando for example has deteriorated in spite of directives by the General Secretary.

“Elsewhere in some branches he has received complaints about constituency executives arriving with a list they read out as the branch executives, party registers not being used, candidates not being vetted, notice of polls in terms of venue, date and time not issued and executives not making nomination forms available to some potential candidates they do not approve. He also received reports of some branches where executives unilaterally decided that certain people were not members of the party.”

The former President has therefore urged all party members across the country who feel aggrieved by the conduct of the elections to forward their petitions and complaints to the party headquarters.

Copies of such petitions can be sent to his office so the concerns can be pursued with the national executive, the statement advised.