NDC youth chase John Dumelo

A section of the youth caucus of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) have expressed disquiet at the decision that saw actor, John Dumelo, speak at the party’s 2016 campaign launch at Cape Coast over the weekend.

The NDC youth leaders who spoke to Today on condition of anonymity were livid that the party allowed John Dumelo to speak instead of the party’s national youth organiser.

They described that action as “sycophancy” on the part of their leaders who they lamented denied the party’s National Youth Organiser, Siidi Abubarkar, the opportunity to address the youth during campaign launch.

The inclusion of the actor-turned politician as one of the speakers, whose address centred on the youth, has triggered a sharp debate between some loyalists of the party’s youth organiser.

According to the youth, it was an apologetic scene to see the legally elected national youth organiser of the NDC relegated to the background whilst a known “opportunist” like Mr. Dumelo whom from nowhere was rather given the platform to address the youth.

Some of the NDC youth asked: “what does this guy (Dumelo) brings to the table that he is being treated with kid’s gloves? Does he hold the magic wand to rake in the one million voters from Ashanti, as well as hand us all the parliamentary seats in the Northern Region and also actualise the agenda fifty-fifty in the Eastern Region?”

They added that though politics is about numbers, things should be done accordingly in order to have a united front to face the common ‘enemy,’ come December, 7, 2016.

“We are talking to some of the party bigwigs to see which line of action to be taken next. But whatever happens, we will soon petition the National Chairman, General Secretary, National Organiser and probably the founder to put measures in place to forestall any future occurrence of what happened at Cape Coast,” they indicated. Meanwhile, snippets of information picked up by Today indicate that the NDC leadership is worried about why the party’s founder, former President Jerry John Rawlings, did not endorse the candidature of President John Dramani Mahama.

According to sources close to the party, the refusal of former President Rawlings to endorse President Dramani Mahama in this year’s polls will affect the electoral fortunes of the NDC.

Though Minister for Communications, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, has responded to the issue by saying that the party will always respect former President Rawlings’s views and actions, Today gathered that there was still some bad blood between the current leadership and their founder.

Dr. Boamah reiterated that the party will in no way disrespect Rawlings for his actions or inactions.

Speaking to Asempa FM in Accra, the communications minister opined that the issue of no endorsement will not derail their attention since they still respect and acknowledge the role of the founder.

He was however, optimistic that the NDC has performed creditably well in the areas of: infrastructure, health, education and many other sectors and has also created significant number of jobs in their short term in office.

“President Mahama is still working to create more jobs, particularly as the World Bank has predicted Ghana’s economy to grow above 8% in 2017,” he added.