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.
