NDC & NPP - No Difference

In musical terms, ?I & My Shody Are One' (Praye).
In political terms, ?I and my Father are One' (courtesy Sheikh I.C. Quaye).
The Daily Dispatch would now like to add that in terms of the breakdown of party structures, ?NPP & NDC Are One.'

It is newsworthy that the headquarters of the main opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) had its telephone and electricity disconnected.

It is even more newsworthy that the headquarters of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) suffers the same fate - with the disconnection of telephone and electricity.


These two occurrences only highlight the breakdown in the structures of Ghana's two biggest parties. It is in this regard that the NPP and the NDC are one, in terms of party breakdown.


As you read this place, lots of money (running into billions of cedis in total) are being dished out by some leading members of the NPP who are interested in contesting the 2008 flagbearership elections. Quite a chunk of the money is being spent in ensuring that their supporters are elected at elections at the polling stations, constituency, regional and national levels. Those elected are likely to form the core of the delegates to elect the NPP's flagbearer.

A number of candidate contesting some positions at the national executive level are spending huge sums of money in hosting delegates. What they are forgetting is that no matter who they elect to key positions at the national level or as the 2008 flagbearer, they are bound to have serious problems if they allow the party structures to collpase.


It the NPP national headquarters can go through such embarrassing situation, how about the regional and constituency levels? With the situation at the NPP's National Headquarters as alarming, many of the regional and constituency structures of the party appear weakened, divided and in limbo, waiting for another election year to approach.


The difficulty the NPP may not have foreseen is that in the run-up to the elections to select a flagbearer, these party activists are likely to engage in such acrimonious struggle that it will affect the potential unity of the party. The time between the election of a flagbearer (early 2007) and the 2008 elections is less than a year, will there be enough time for such political wounds to heal?