Post Congress Press Statement by Nana Konadu 2012 Campaign Team

July 12, 2011

Ladies and gentlemen of the press:

We have invited you here this morning because there are critical issues that

occurred during the flag-bearership contest which, in our opinion, needs

correcting, not only for the NDC Party, but for the integrity and

credibility of Ghana¹s democratic process.

You will recall that, among other things, we embarked on this journey months

ago to:

· protest the denigration of the core principles of our party,

· to restore power to the marginalised grassroots of our party and

· to bring inspirational leadership to the country at large.

The marginalised, but deserving, grassroots of the party needed a courageous

and able voice to speak for them. Nana Konadu stepped up to the challenge

when no one within the leadership of the party was willing and bold enough

to do so. Their excuses were Œit is against the status quo, don¹t rock the

boat, it is unconventional.¹

Like truth standing all by herself, she stepped out in courage. She

challenged the leadership of the party and spoke out for the voiceless

within our party. She spoke out against disunity. She agitated for the

inclusion and restoration of the party¹s principles, seeking to restore

strong and decisive leadership to the centre of NDC governance and to the

country at large.

She knew the journey was not going to be easy. First came the slanderous

statements, the impugning of her motives and integrity, the disrespect and

sometimes outright contempt for her person and family, but like a true

patriot and person of conviction, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings stood on

principle and spoke her mind with boldness, damning the threatened

consequences of ostracism and victimisation.

These threats of victimisation and ostracism were real and present and were

strongly reflected and culminated during the electoral process. The NDC

Electoral Committee was composed to achieve a lopsided view point. The whole

process was orchestrated and skewed in a way that prevented the contest from

being free and fair.

· For one, the attempted introduction of regional voting was intended to

identify the voting pattern of the delegates. Obviously, this was designed

to victimise non-conformers.

· Secondly, there was the deliberate attempt by the NDC Electoral

Committee to exclude the National Electoral Commission from conducting the

elections. It was only after the threat of legal action from our legal team

that the party brought them on board. By which time the integrity of the

process leading to Congress had long been compromised, at least

psychologically. The input and process having been tainted, the outcome is

logically bound to be tainted.

Ladies and gentlemen, throughout the process it was clear that delegates

were being coerced by inducements, the misuse of the fear factor and threats

to vote in a particular direction.

It is hard to comprehend.

Our opponents have already begun to dismiss the charge of the fear factor.

For those who sat in the stands and participated in the process (delegates

and agents), it was actual and real. In the last two days, we¹ve received

direct reports from well over 200 delegates who were not granted

accreditation to enter the Congress grounds and thus not allowed to exercise

their franchise to vote.

The adoption of tactics alien to the NDC, which includes the deliberate

impoverishment of the people, was calculated to make them vulnerable and

susceptible to manipulation. Despite this clear campaign of fear, we

persevered, believing that, notwithstanding the negative tactics, the

delegates would demonstrate a high level of courage and honour by making a

choice based on the facts and principles that are clear for all to see.

Unfortunately, they had already been cowered into submission.

There was a calculated plan of intimidation, not only from government

officials, but by an unnecessarily high presence of heavily armed security

personnel all over the inner and outer perimeter of the Congress grounds and

indeed throughout the Sunyani metropolis. Since the inception of the NDC,

our party has recognised that our strength is our people. Yet during this

Congress, we denied entry to our party faithful into the Congress grounds.

What image do we project to the nation and to the world when we lock the

strength of our party outside? Why should we do this? It was unfortunate

that our party faithful, who are the backbone of the NDC, were denied the

opportunity to participate in this historic occasion.

Nonetheless, the delegates appear to have made a decision: a presidential

candidate has been elected. One thing still remains unchanged: With the

support of the Founder and the grassroots, Nana Konadu, boldly and

fearlessly stood up and challenged the denigration of party principles, the

weakening of party structures and the dampening of the party¹s revolutionary

spirit. She boldly and fearlessly stood up and challenged the growing

disunity, apathy and despondency resulting in the disintegration of our

party.

The president has now openly and publicly conceded that these problems in

fact exist.

It took courage and a willingness to speak the truth in the face of

ostracism and victimisation to exact that admission. This is the victory of

her stance of courage. Let all who have our party¹s interest at heart take

note. To those who believed in the cause, we salute your boldness. To the

grassroots supporters, we thank you, we urge you to keep faith as we will

continue to champion your cause in whatever shape or form.

Thank you. God bless you and Be Bold.