By William
Yaw Owusu
Saturday,
October 14, 2017
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.
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