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Feature Article of Wednesday, 24 November 2010

Columnist: Banamini, David A.

Is The NDC Suffering From Political Amnesia?

Following current events as chronicled in the media give cause for true NDC sympathizers to do meaningful self-introspection about the fortunes of the party in the 2012 general elections. The broader issue of perceived factionalism that has engulfed the president and the former president is a needless scuffle, which shouldn’t have arisen in the first place. It is seemingly true the NDC has a very short memory and has therefore easily forgotten the past because it is just less than 24 months when this very party was completely wallowing in opposition.
It is even more disturbing and panic-stricken when the so-called party foot soldiers are usually seen and heard doing some spin-doctoring purported at undoing one faction or the other. Let me put it straight to them that whoever and whatever status their paymasters may assume, they cannot be said to be supreme than the corporate interest of the socialists (NDC) family. The foot soldiers are even oblivious of the fact that the power they are covertly wielding is fast waning especially in the face of such pervasive disunity within the party.
Let me respectfully advice the former president, JJ Rawlings, that he has a lot of following in the party, and his stake in the NDC is obviously indispensible. However, he needs to constantly invite the president for close-door meetings to bring his knowledge and experience to bear particularly on crucial matters as they unfold. It appears, and increasingly so, that the youth who were born during the reign of former president Rawlings and loyal to him are getting exceptionally worried about the developments in the NDC, and are collectively calling on their dear grandfather to expeditiously save the boat from rocking.
For president Mills, he has won the hearts of many Ghanaians; demystifying corruption and even combining morality with politics which is very rare in the global political milieu, especially in Africa. Even as much as he is admired, we should not hesitate to offer advice: My candid advice to president Mills is that he should quickly and expressly put a mechanism in place to accommodate and listen to the concerns of former president Rawlings and act on them with all the urgency and frankness they deserve.

I fondly remember the cordiality and corporation that existed between the two as President and Vice-President. This grew even stronger leading to the Great Swedru Declaration to the distaste of some high echelon of the party. I also recall as if it happened only yesterday that when then candidate Mills was energetically campaigning for power using the door-to-door method former president Rawlings showed immeasurable support. In fact, such scenarios are countless.

It is therefore difficult to fathom the current political amnesia that has gripped the two great men of the Party and the confusion that evolves within the NDC. If care is not taken, or remedial measures immediately implored, political power shall elude the NDC and those at the grassroots shall be the sufferers of the lapses.

On the candidature of the former first lady, I wish to say she has the right to contest the sitting president, but will that give NDC the power again? Certainly in my honest opinion NO! The timing is wrong, and this is not the time to experiment or test the waters; better still, the NDC has a constitution and all should abide by the tenets of that constitution. I’m exceptionally happy that the former first lady hasn’t openly declared her intention to contest the sitting president. Perhaps, it is just another deception from the media that is dangerously embellishing it with the belief that, once more, it is dutifully setting the agenda for public discourse.
The unhealthy developments in the NDC are not exclusive of the insatiable quest for power which has suddenly beclouded the sense of judgment of some influential front liners of the party. This clearly amplifies my consistent belief that the NDC has suddenly forgotten of its past, suffering from political dissonance which is very dangerous for the party’s survival. The floating voters who are seen as kingmakers in Ghanaian politics are critically watching the NDC and may change their minds if the party fails to engender unity and make manifest The Better Ghana Agenda.

For the carpetbaggers in the NDC, who appear to think that the perceived fragile state of the party is a fertile ground for political opportunism, may be shooting themselves in the foot. Any persons baptized with the culture of sowing seeds of discords in a political entity for their parochial gain most often fail to ascend to any political office. How then can such characters be attractive and appealing to the kingmakers (floating voters)? Certainly NOT! So, the earlier they change their tactics the better for them and the future and fortunes of NDC.
David. A Banamini
Sakumono, Accra.

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