Tight security at NDC meeting; phones seized

There was tight security at the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) National Executive Council (NEC) meeting at the party’s plush office complex at Adabraka, Accra, on Thursday.

The party introduced strict security measures for members attending the meeting, because it did not want any member to leak information from the very important meeting, which took a decision on its timetable for electing officers at the various levels.

Thorough Search

According to a source at the party’s headquarters, the NEC members were subjected to thorough search at the entrance, to the embarrassment of some of them.

Unconfirmed report says NDC stalwart, Ato Ahwoi, who could not stand it, allegedly walked out in anger.

Before the meeting started, the party’s security detail reportedly prevented visitors from entering the premises and all NEC members were not allowed to enter with their mobile phones or any other gadgets.

They were then said to have been screened with metal detectors, in spite of vehement protests by some of the committee members.

The party’s leadership had been incensed following the recent leakage of the report of the Professor Kwesi Botchwey Committee that investigated why the NDC embarrassingly lost the December 7, 2016 general elections.

The 65-page Executive Summary of the 455-page report, which the NDC is keeping like a state secret, was leaked to the media, forcing some of the executives to attempt to play down on the significance of the contents of the report, albeit unsuccessfully. DAILY GUIDE will resume the publication of the report next week.

Presidential Support

According to the report, John Dramani Mahama’s presidency schemed for Kofi Portuphy and Kofi Adams to become National Chairman and National Organizer respectively of the NDC – a factor the 13-member Prof Kwesi Botchwey committee report claims contributed to the disastrous defeat of the party.

Immediately that was done, the party’s machinery collapsed and never recovered, according to the executive summary of the report.

Sycophantic Executives

The report says with the election of the two leading officers, the party’s hierarchy became sycophants and did the bidding of the presidency instead of concentrating on how it would remain in office.

“Kofi Adams and Kofi Portuphy were beneficiaries of the presidency machinations during the Kumasi Congress to elect them,” the report reveals on Page 27.

It adds on page 28 that “after the party’s congress in Kumasi, the party’s hierarchy collapsed,” saying, “party hierarchy became sycophantic in its relationship with the government.”

Kofi Adams unseated incumbent Yaw Boateng Gyan as National Organizer while Mr Portuphy removed then Chairman Dr. Kwabena Adjei aka Wayo Wayo or cat hunter, from office in an acrimonious congress of the party held in Kumasi in December, 2014.

Stolen Party Cash

The report recounts instances where some greedy party executives put in-charge of Mahama’s second term bid, stole campaign cash and denied the NDC foot soldiers their share of the cake.

According to the report, President Mahama let himself down with his attitude towards the campaign, saying, “John Mahama lost the elections and not the NDC.

“President Mahama ignored the Akuse strategy. It included no flamboyant campaign, no amorphous group etc.”

The report revealed that then President Mahama, seeking re-election, carried himself like a ‘movie star’ and surrounded himself with aides who were intolerant to dissenting views.

Disastrous Solomon Nkansah

The report also asserts that the reign of Solomon Nkansah as the Communications Officer of the party was disastrous.

Mr Solomon Nkansah was the National Propaganda Secretary before the NDC turned the propaganda office into communication when the party moved into its $20 million office complex which the top hierarchy vehemently denied owning in 2014.

“Solomon Nkansah as Communications Director was a disaster,” the report claims on Page 28.

Party Disconnection

According to the report, there was “disconnection between the government and the party, and also there was “disconnection between the party and the grassroots.”

The report says there were palpable divisions in the party and cited Afram Plains in the Eastern Region as typical example.

It points out that the 13-member committee heard how the party’s hierarchy ignored warnings that the Lawra seat in the Upper West Region and other constituencies were falling into the hands of the opposition, but nobody did anything about it.

Greed & Selfishness

“NDC was its own enemy. Greedy, selfish, dismissive, arrogance of power,” were the party’s undoing according to the report on Page 27.