The General Secretary of the People’s National Convention (PNC), Bernard Mornah, has admitted that the party’s poor performance in past elections is due to the collective failure of its leadership.
The PNC managed less than 1 percent of the total votes cast in the 2012 general elections and has only one representative in Ghana’s Parliament.
According to him, the dismal performance in past general elections cannot be solely blamed on any one individual but the entire leadership of the party.
[contextly_sidebar id=”UXBse49TJla2eW4Mj9WJ0nmX9zv9Mxno”]“I have accepted collective responsibility on the part of leadership of the party. I have not singled out any individual. I have talked about what our collective weaknesses have done and what individual weaknesses have done. Our actions and inactions have led us to where we are and so together we should find a new way out,” Bernard Mornah said on Eyewitness News on Tuesday.
Mornah, who announced his intention to contest for the National Chairmanship position in the party in March however, hinted that the failure of the current National Chairman , Alhaji Ramadan have, more than most, contributed to the rapid decline of the party that once governed the party in the 1980’s.
According to Mr. Mornah, a failure by the National Chairman to effectively punish members who had gone contrary to the party’s statutes.
“The Chairman of the party is the leader of the party and as leader, you give direction. I am not the leader of the party, the party has a leader. Bernard Mornah alone doesn’t elect people. Bernard Mornah hasn’t stood on any platform to say ‘people of Ghana, don’t vote for the PNC’ How much do those pronouncements affect the party? The leader must bring to order those who have done wrong, including me. There have been petitions that have not been dealt with. As General Secretary I drew the attention of the National Chairman because the petitions were addressed to him to constitute disciplinary proceedings,” he opined
“I have made several attempts to get this matter resolved because of the danger to the party and its future because any other member of the party and declare support for whatsoever candidate and say the precedent exists that when this happened nobody took action,“ he added.
Individual performances matter
Bernard Mornah believes that though collective responsibility for the party’s poor election results must be taken, it does not mean that individual efforts should be dismissed.
“I have been a General Secretary that has stayed the course of the party, that spoken eloquently for the party and that has done my administrative work efficiently and proficiently. I accept one thing, that when you are in leadership, you must accept that the failure of the leadership must be a team work. I accept the failure of our party to garner sufficient votes and the fact that we have been unable to appreciate our votes is our collective failure but it doesn’t mean that in our individual capacity we have not been able to deliver.
“Many people know that anytime you take your personal resources to go round to meet with party people to engage them. There are many others that will not find it expedient to join the Presidential candidate on his campaign.
‘PNC is rising’
According to Bernard Mornah, though the People’s National Convention has flattered to deceive in recent times, efforts are being made to rebrand the party in an attempt to turn it back in into the force it once was.
“The PNC is rising up. The PNC has learnt its mistakes and that is why we want to build together and that is why the party is being rebranded. That is why many people want to see energy,” he said.
By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana