Blows over NDC probe

There was confusion at the Tamale Sports Stadium in the Northern Region when the committee set up by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to ascertain the cause of the party’s defeat in the 2016 elections met members of the party.

DAILY GUIDE gathered that some supporters and executives of the party allegedly attributed the NDC’s defeat in last year’s elections in the region to the Regional Chairman, Sofo Azorka, accusing him of keeping motorbikes, money and other materials meant for the 2016 campaign.

They claimed the materials, which were supposed to be shared among the constituencies, were still in the custody of the chairman.

Chief Sofo Azoka, who got angry, dared other members who accused him of keeping the materials, leading to the hot exchanges, using unprintable words.

The misunderstanding resulted in the throwing of chairs and other objects at the venue.

Some bigwigs of the NDC, who graced the occasion, were former deputy ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Hajia Hawawu Boya Gariba; former District Chief Executives (DCEs); Alhaji Hudu Yahaya, a member of the Committee; National Research Officer of the party, Abu Razak and Tamale Metro Health Insurance Manager, Abdul Salam.

DAILY GUIDE learnt that the chairman of the fact-finding committee, Dr Kwesi Botchwey, was conspicuously absent, even though words had gone round that he was expected.

The meeting finally ended inconclusively following the hot exchanges between Chairman Azoka and some aggrieved stalwarts of the party, who accused him of bad leadership during the electioneering campaign.

The committee had encountered similar challenges in other regions.

Ex-President John Rawlings had stated that though there were clear signs ahead of the general elections that the NDC would lose the elections, the party ignored them.

According to him, the NDC lost the elections way before December 7, because it chose to “persistently and unrepentantly stay on the slippery slope.”

President Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) polled 5,716,026 votes, representing 53.85 percent to beat John Dramani Mahama of the NDC, who had 4,713,277 votes, representing 44.40 percent.

The NDC set up the 13-member committee to investigate why it was so overwhelmingly defeated in the December 2016 general elections.