"Obed will kill NDC"

Accra (The Statesman.) -- A former Minister of the erstwhile Rawlings administration, who is also a leading member of the National Democratic Congress, told the Statesman on Monday that the country’s second largest party is on the brink of disintegrating ahead of the ‘unsavoury’ prospect.

The seasoned politician who spoke under the cloak of anonymity, accused Dr Obed Asamoah of engineering the selection of party delegates to “suite his personal interest.” He said of the former Attorney General, “if he wins a lot of people will leave the party.” “Yet, it may spell the end of the NDC party,” said the party strongman who also describes himself as a political scientist, adding, “and the end of Ghana’s democracy.”

So who would your preferred candidate be? “I have none, per se,” he replied, “but I want somebody who has respect for his peers – because that is a very, very important attribute of leadership of leadership. We need to have a leader who is modest enough and honest. I don’t think Dr Asamoah has those attributes.

The source is also a staunch supporter of the former President, as proof of the sources of the dichotomy within the party. In the interview he claimed that “people within the party are not happy with the methods he (Obed) has employed,” especially, by virtue of his leadership role in helping to re-organise the party last year, to position himself today as the favourite candidate in the forthcoming 27 April congress, to be held at the Trade Fair Centre, Accra.

“As a political scientist and a person who has been with the NDC all this time, I can say with authority that if (Obed) gains control of the party a lot of people will leave the party.”

But to where? “They don’t have to go to any other party,” he quickly added, mindful of the vacuum which the NDC’s rivals can benefit from. “They can air their opinions freely as ordinary citizens of this country,” he said.

He accused the former Minister of Justice of possessing the instincts of an autocrat, but failed to back it with any specifics. “So far Dr Obed Asamoah has presented himself as a dictator. A lot of our members don’t like his style of leadership. His preferred method of winning is crude and dictatorial,” adding, “it is absolutely clear that he only wants the party for himself and he does stand a chance of achieving that.”

The fears of the Rawlings’ camp within the NDC were heightened by the wins bagged by pro-Obed candidates in the weekend’s National Delegates conference of the Youth Wing of the party. Iddrisu Haruna, Ludwing Hlodze and Kelly Forson, the triumvirate to head the youth wing are all seen as staunch Obed supporters.

Also, the non-conciliatory attitude of Bismark Agbemenule- who was woefully beaten by Haruna for the position of the National Youth Organiser- as he tried to explain his bad defeat with brickebats on Obed Asamoah appears to support the anxiety shared by some people that irrespective of his actual credentials a win by Obed could very well lead either to a massive exodus from the party or a serious internal rift, the ferocity of which could distract the party from the all-important uphill struggle to wrest power from the NPP in the 2004 elections.

Not forgetting the common ‘foe’ our source said of the ruling party, “the NPP is clandestinely supporting Obed Asamoah.” This, he said, is being done “through their newspapers.” Bizarrely, he mentioned reports in the Daily Guide and the Independent, as showing instances of his claim.

The source said he found it ironic that Dr Obed Asamoah is presenting himself as the man to introduce democracy into the party, which has been seen from its inception as a political grouping, built around the domineering personality of one man- J.J. Rawlings. He warned “those who have accepted Obed as a democrat” to “investigate to see if indeed he is so.”

Pointing to the electoral caucus of the party, comes the keenly awaited party congress, the source said “the people who would be given the mandate to choose the new chairman and other elected officials would not necessarily be the people’s choice.” He lamented over the fact that members most congnisant with the party’s internal affairs and personalities, like himself, would not have the vote to stop the Obed gravy train.

On Monday, the Chronicle reported another leading member of the NDC as stating that the party has been divided ever since it lost the 2000 elections. Kwamena Ahwoi told the youth congress at Prampram over the weekend that their party leadership has failed to resolve internal divisions in a democratic way.

Squadron Leader Clend Sowu, who is also competing for the party chairmanship said of the NDC on Accra’s Choice FM on Monday, “we had to lose the 2000 elections,” adding, “if we had won the 2000 election this country would have been so ungovernable.”

Also at the weekend, which saw Obed’s candidate, Iddrisu Haruna, elected as the NDC’s new National Youth Organiser, Ms Frances A. Asiam became the new National Women’s Organiser. She beat her only challenger, Mrs Tabitha Quaye, who got only two out of the 30 votes.