By William
Yaw Owusu
Saturday,
November 18, 2017
The former Consul to
Dubai, Daniel Osei, has said that the decision by former President John Dramani
Mahama to lead the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2020 general
elections is tearing the opposition party apart.
“This issue of
former President Mahama's return is currently the most divisive factor in NDC
politics,” he noted in one of his dispatches following what he termed the
skewing of party activities in favour of the former president at the expense of
all those NDC stalwarts, who had declared their intentions to lead the party in
2020.
Mr. Osei, a former
Consul General at Ghana's mission in Dubai under President Mahama, said “The
Kwesi Botchwey (KB) report, apology tour, appointees, ill-conceived chairmen
endorsements, and all the other factors combined don't come close to how
divisive his return is.”
According to Mr.
Osei, “The last election was a verdict on how well (or not) we lived up to our
core values. The deep cut of the humiliating defeat we suffered at the 2016
polls and the historical margin of defeat reflects a total rejection we cannot
sweep under the rug.”
He said that the
then opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) was able to mount a very effective
campaign while the NDC displayed opulence and obscene use of money, insisting
that “in the 2016 campaign we were grossly out-campaigned by the opposition on
all fronts. Our messaging was off in many areas and sometimes simply, absent.
“I am particularly
shocked by those executives who pretend as if we run a winning campaign and
lost. Maybe they just don't know any better. We did not run a winning campaign.
Opulence and money was not enough and in many instances, very harmful to our
cause.
“Our organizing did
not exist and certainly our GOTV was
very poor. Almost absent. Over-reliance on ‘the president has won already’ made
us bankrupt of thinking. It's time to put on our thinking caps. It's time for a
paradigm shift.”
He said the Cape
Coast ‘unity walk’ was an opportunity to finally unite the rank and file of the
NDC, but the Mahama camp blew that chance.
“Sadly, neither of
these camps is helping us in terms of steps to improve our votes. The JM at all
cost camp can't see beyond the former president. They are not even willing to
entertain any suggestion that he did or said anything wrong,” he pointed out.
According to Mr.
Osei, who once contested and lost the Asante Akyem North seat on the ticket of
the NDC, “I don't blame the ‘JM by force’ group. At the base level, it's very
understandable.
He is a very calm mannered and pleasant person. It's easy to
love him. At the appointees’ level, you can't blame them because many had their
major life-changing experience, as his appointees and did well for themselves
and their families.”
Debate
He said there was
the need for honest debate over whether or not former President John Mahama
should be made the NDC’s flag bearer for the 2020 elections.
“It is not enough to
be for or against the former president or any particular person. For those who
want his return, it is important for their voices to be heard and their reasons
discussed and analysed for substance. Equally, for those who don't want him,
there must be good reasons and those reasons must be put through serious
thinking and analysis to help digest them for substance.
“The idea is for us
to strengthen our debate to help make the best decision for the party. I don't
believe either side is totally wrong or totally right, but an honest discussion
will help us reach a good consensus. There must be a civil and intelligent
analysis to help us make the right decision.
“We can't keep doing
the same things and expect different results. It is unpardonable that a party
in power will sit and allow the opposition to feed us election results. This
was possible because the party, seemingly strong, was rather very weak with
clueless persons given important responsibilities.”
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