Come December 22, 2007, congress which is the highest decision making body of NPP will make a critical and a historical decision ever in the life of the party. This is because NPP as a party has never found itself in this transitional situation before since its formation. If NPP will stand united or crumble, it will all depend on the measures that will be put in place by the National Executives of the party for the congress day.
The problem of too many aspirants and the current situation of “moneycracy” in the race for the flagbearer of NPP can be traced to the door steps of the National Executives. The party leadership should stop living in the land of pretence by creating the impression that the phenomenon is not a problem. If not, why has it engaged the attention and attracted the explanations of all the Executives including the 18 or so aspirants? If clear and stringent measures were put in place a year ago to screen prospective aspirants, we wouldn’t have had this mass array of aspirants and the influence of money so much that it has become excess baggage for the party to deal with. It is very unacceptable and unpardonable for the National Executives to allow the evolution of this excess baggage before coming out with some sort of guidelines to deal with them.
Now that the National Executives of the party have lost this initiative and the situation of too many aspirants who are all likely to contest has come to stay with us; it is absolutely important that they do not loose grounds and mismanage the congress itself. The party leadership has an enormous task of making sure that camping of delegates does not find its way anywhere near the congress day. It is incumbent on them to ensure that congress becomes extremely free and fair. The National Executives are also expected to provide uncompromising level playing platform for all the aspirants and not to bend the congress to say thank you to the highest bidder or whoever contributed in their success of becoming National Delegates. Posterity will never forgive them and will forever haul them over the coals, if they fail to perform this important assignment judiciously.
It is completely not enough for the National Executives to just say camping of delegates will not be allowed during congress. That is unacceptable even for a second. Civil Society Groups, Ghanaians, lovers of NPP and democracy should all impress on the party’s National Executives to come out with clear cut laid down rules and regulations that will guide the congress at least two (2) weeks before the congress day, 22 December, 2007.
The congress venue, University of Ghana, Legon, has more than enough facilities to accommodate the over 2000 delegates that would be making the all important decision of selecting a flagbearer at the congress night. There are new hostels with facilities equally good as that of a 2 – 3 star hotel that the party itself can get hold of and house the delegates in them. The party executives must make sure that delegates report to the said place on a certain time before accreditations are given to them. Delegates who fail to report on that time or follow the guidelines can only be seen as having ulterior motives and they should therefore not be accredited. After all, won’t it be better in the larger interest of the party to go to congress without those delegates than to allow them to destroy what we have all worked and toiled for as a party?
With the kind of monies that are said to be going round, pick – up vehicles and the post – dated cheques saga, one cannot be sure what a desperate aspirant can do to thwart the interest of the party for his personal interest. We should stop saying that, the party cannot split because all the aspirants love the party and they have also suffered for it. We should bear in mind that people like the late Professor Adu Boahen, Nana Akuffo Addo, Gen. Afrifa, William Ofori Atta and the rest also loved the Danquah – Busia Tradition but it was able to split into United National Convention (UNC) and Popular Front Party (PFP) in 1979.
What Mr. Mac Manu, the National Chairman of Npp and the rest of the National Executives should know is that, Ghanaians, Civil Society Groups, foot soldiers and party faithful are all watching with great expectations that they organise a congress devoid of any favouritism and especially the camping of delegates. A word to the wise, they say, is enough.
Source: Johnson, Edward Kwamina
