The National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Sissala East Constituency of the Upper West Region risk collapsing if there is no intervention to resolve a chronic intra-part conflict that has resulted in leadership crises.
This conflict started sometime in 2009 between the then MP Hon Rafatu Alhassan Dubie and the District Chief Executive: Hon Alijata Sulemana. It still shocks us to recall that NOBODY in the Party from the President (RIP) JEA Mills through to the Upper Regional Executives could bring the two unruly protagonists to book. Be that as it may, the DCE used the name of the late President (JEA Mills) to win the constituency primary election. She subsequently won the seat based on the shear love of the constituency for NDC and this love and strength of the party is being taken for granted and undermined by the immature and simplistic leadership style of our MP, Hon Alijata Sulemana Gbentie.
When one is put in a position of leadership and responsibility, maturity and level-headedness is expected to guide his or her conduct in building consensus in his/her leadership. It was therefore thought that, following her election as the MP, Hon Alijata Sulemana Gbentie would have reached out to her perceived enemies in the party, so we can reconcile our differences, mend broken hearts, build bridges and present a new face and outlook for the party. A failure to achieve this only testifies to her maturity and how entrenched the positions have been on both sides.
Whilst it is not surprising that the MP is not in talking terms with the current constituency executives, she has surprisingly opened a new war front by refusing to have anything to do with all the NDC fine gentlmen who contested her in the primary elections. Rather than getting wise counsel to reconcile the party and build a united common front, she appears to be enjoying the conflict, confrontation and rivalry
The MP has decided to set up her own parallel executive body for the constituency. So as we speak, we have two different Executive bodies for NDC in the same Sissala East Constituency. This illegal body was set-up without due recourse to neither the party’s constitution nor the rank and file of the party. As a matter of fact, we do not know what her focus is as our MP except her obsessed preoccupation of strategizing to get re-elected at the next primary election which is about three (3) years ahead. Obviously, developing the party is not her priority at all. Being the MP is important. She must be told in the face that, her chosen methods may result in some unwanted situation if she is not brought to book.
Polling station/branch/ward executive organisation is a function of the constituency. The timelines and guidelines for this activity can be clearly seen in the party’s constitution. The Hon MP is running ahead of everybody to compile a register of polling station/branch/ward executives by illegally conducting branch executive elections in the villages under the cover of darkness.
What is more, those she suspects to have supported other aspirants in last primary election are excluded from her register with a simple explanation that the president wants her to register only those who will vote for her in the next primaries. To entice her unsuspecting victims, she tells them the President has finally offered her an appointment but she was not enthused about it and the president was now considering changing it. She must be stopped from drawing the President’s name into these needless controversies. HE John Dramani Mahama is a true democrat and will not condone wrong doing.
If she is not stopped, we are going to end up having two (2) different registers at the constituency and that will be recipe for disaster. The import of what she is doing is to procure the next primary election even before it is due. This is complete corruption. In competitive democracy an incumbent office holder is expected to work well and his/her record will justify a re-election. Attempting to develop a monolithic loyalist register to vote for her even if she does not perform can be equated to fraud. It is also simply undemocratic, selfish and must not be countenanced.
As usual we expect her to unleash her attack dogs on our Director of Communications as they have always done. They should be rest assured that their verbal attacks will not deter any courageous democrat/cadre from pursuing a legitimate course in the interest of the Party and Country. It is even most interesting when those she can hire to do these attacks are the unsuspecting New Patriotic Party (NPP) tugs.
Written by: Mr. Justice Ali, Director of Communications: Young Democrats, Sissala East Constituency.
