NPP questions NDC's $700,000 at Rawlings' Houston fundraiser

A report filed by our American correspondent, Prince Osei Bonsu, says the National Democratic Congress managed to raise a record US$700,000 (GH¢ 650,142.50, or ¢6.5 billion) at a banquet fundraiser in America attended by NDC founder Jerry John Rawlings and his wife.

Perhaps, even more remarkably, the organisers had set a formidable target of $5m. But, the Youth Organiser of the New Patriotic Party has called on the Electoral Commission to insist on "full disclosure” from the opposition party, to kill off any suggestion that the money “could come from stolen money being recycled and brought back into the country for election purposes.”

The weekend's historical fundraising event was organised by the North American Coordinating Council of the NDC in Houston, Texas on Saturday, August 4. The venue was the plush Hilton Hotel Southwest, Houston.

In his keynote address, Mr Rawlings accused the NPP of running a “kleptocracy”, where there is a total disregard for the rule of law, describing the Kufuor administration as one which condones nepotism, corruption, and abuse of power.

While commending the efforts of any political party to "appeal to Ghanaians abroad for funds to supplement what can be raised domestically," Mr Boadu is of the view that "If fundraising is done outside of Ghana, the Electoral Commission must go into and demand transparency on the identity of the individuals and firms that, as in this case, are said to have contributed to the tune of $700,000."

Mr Boadu thinks the law banning foreigners and foreign interests from contributing financially to political parties in Ghana "should be respected. We should be mindful against drug money or monies from foreign companies being smuggled into our politics to buy protection and influence procurement contracts and so forth."

Our reporter says, the attendance itself was poor, as far as political fundraisers go. The ballroom at the Southwest Hilton in Houston was barely a third full and most of the attendees were from out of State. However, what was astonishing was the amount of money realised both in corporate and individual donations.

This raised questions as to whether the amount raised, $300,000 short of the million-dollar mark, was a mark of a combination between the resources of Ghanaians in Diaspora and the popularity of the NDC, or really a reflection of how our domestic laws on political funding can be easily side-stepped.

The guest list at the event, graced by Ghana's longest serving Head of State, included other nationals, mostly from Nigeria, Cameroon, Uganda and African-Americans.

Also in attendance to the banquet/fundraiser were the various chapters of the NDC in North America, from, among other places, Chicago, Atlanta, New York, Washington DC, Miami, Dallas, and from Canada, Toronto and Montreal.

The report speaks of the pomp and ceremony with which the former President and his wife were carted to the event. They were "transported in a diplomatic limousine from his residence in the Woodlands, a suburb of Houston." The former Ghanaian first couple arrived at the fundraising banquet "in good spirit" and whisked to a waiting VIP suite. At about 9.30pm they were led into the banquet hall to the NDC anthem and cheers from the crowd.

Delivering his after-dinner speech, Mr Rawlings spoke of the apparent "imbalance" existing in the world, with particular rebuke of the relationship between the West and Africa.

He accused "Western powers, in particular, the United States and Britain," of continuing to shower "praises on regimes that lack the moral, administrative, political, managerial, market, legal/judicial, constituency relation, and professional corruption of our generation."

Repeating what has become his theme complaint on the international circuit, Mr Rawlings lamented "institutional criminal acts that goes [sic] unpunished and falls [sic] on deaf ears. These criminal malfeasances, including Kleptocracy," he said, was being condoned by the hierarchy of the Ghanaian government, when they, the West know very well how such instances of abuse of power psychologically demoralise "those who play by the rules of democracy."

In his speech, Mr Rawlings alleged that while the abuses of the NPP government was going on unabated, "the fabric of society and youth of our dear country," have been reduced to "rugs and tissues" on which the "elite members of the NPP and government walk on. Where is the ethics with the West, when such acts are simply brushed aside in the name of good governance?" he charged.

He brought in the conflict in Iraq, accusing America and Britain of destabilising the peace in the region. The report refers to Mr Rawlings saying, "By them refusing to heed to a universal consensus not to destabilise the era of good feelings immediately after the Cold War, others such as the Ghanaian government believes, it can get away with anything on earth, as far as it does not contradict the desires of Britain and the United States. Hence the neglect of what is going on by the United States and Britain in Ghana and elsewhere in the continent."

When it came to her turn, the former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings captured the attention of the audience and gave, what the report describes as "a chilling account of the manipulation of justice in "the Kings Court."

She alleged that the NPP was using various unconventional tactics to criminalise actions that were legitimately implemented by her NGO, the 31st December Women’s Movement.

The event was hosted by Joseph Manboah-Rockson, a professor at Texas Southern University in Houston, and Kwame Mensah-Bonsu