[ 2011-04-10 ]

NDC founder Jerry Rawlings is unhappy with President Mills' style of governance

Early congress not a panacea for NDC’s infighting - Gyampo
The ruling NDC’s decision to go for an early
congress to elect a presidential candidate for the
2012 elections will not solve the party’s
problems, that’s according to Mr. Ransford
Gyampo, a Political Science Lecturer at the
University of Ghana.

The scramble for the party’s presidential slot
has deepened over the last few months a
development which is considered a threat to party
unity. Perchance, the party’s leadership is
optimistic that an early congress would calm
nerves.

But Mr. Ransford Gyampo in an interview with Citi
News said it is not guaranteed that the deep
cracks will go away once a candidate is elected.

“Early congress may not necessarily serve as the
panacea to the crisis within the NDC. Obviously we
have seen the factions and the creeping tendencies
that have started dividing the rank of the party.
So it is important they try to resolve these
things before they think about congress” he
noted.

“What purpose will it serve if you go to
organize a congress and people are still unhappy
with the way things are going and people are still
not pleased with the way Professor Mills wants to
respect due processes and follow the rule of law?
So I think acrimony will still exist so it is
important that the Council of Elders within the
party must be up and doing by bringing the sides
together and talking to them to see if they can
strengthen themselves and build a cohesion within
the party” he said.

Mr. Gyampo believes the party is only jumping the
gun by deciding on an early congress.

“It is important that they do first things
first. It is not too straightforward that when a
congress is organized and a leader is elected, it
will be automatic that everybody will come onboard
to support that leader. So it is important to heal
wounds. A party that is so much bent on dividing
its ranks will not even do well in terms of its
electoral fortunes. What can the party do to help
the president prosecute his agenda? That is what
all Ghanaians and everybody in the NDC must help
President Mills to achieve. I believe when that is
done and the better Ghana agenda is properly
delivered, then it will not be difficult trying to
appeal to people to retain them in the next
election” he noted.

Other commentators believe an early congress could
distract the president’s focus of delivering on
his better Ghana agenda promise; to engage in
campaigning since the opposition NPP’s
candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo, has hit the ground
running.

It is however not clear what might have gone into
the decision to hold an early congress in the
Brong Ahafo Regional capital of Sunyani from July
8-10.

The party is expected to hold a news conference on
Monday April 18 to give further details.

Source - Citifmonline

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