The President, who made this known at his second Media Encounter at the Flagstaff House said: “I do not have a difficulty facing the Ghanaian people. I have been trying to do so all my life in various degrees of success and  I do not have any difficulty, and especially with the opportunity that has been given me to serve them in this capacity.

“If at the end of the day, the NPP decides they want to renew my Flagbearership and to go the country, I will do so and I will do so with a great deal of confidence .”

The President’s revelation somewhat dispels suggestions that he might just go for one term considering his age, to allow his Vice, Mahamadu Bawumia to contest with others who may show up.

The President, who made the revelation in response to a question on whether his government was enjoying incumbency advantage, further indicated “As far as the issue of incumbency is concerned, it should never be an advantage in a proper functioning democracy because the process should be sufficiently transparent. The voice of the people at any one stage will be kept through. It cannot be because incumbency advantage is in an advanced stage then it means the electoral plain field is being distorted or engineered to favour incumbency. That should never be the case. The only advantage you can have if you are in government is the quality of your performance.”

He added that “if the performance [of a government] is good and the people feel it is worth endorsing for another round, they will do so. If they feel that the performance is poor and it is not worth endorsing, they will destool you so there should be no issue that incumbency is an advantage. Incumbency can only be an advantage  in a situation where it means that some distortion, some unfair, some untoward advantage is being gained by the fact that you are in office.”

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post ‘I’ll contest 2020 if NPP wants me to’ – Nana Addo appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The BT comprises the Presidency and appointees, and the DT are the progressive leadership and dedicated membership of the party.

The Cantonments Declaration by the regional chairmen, like the Swedru Declaration by then President and his allies, is an attempt to entrench the power of the BT. In the late 90s, the views of the DT were largely represented by the Reform Movement, which eventually broke away to form the National Reform Party. It took the return of the Reform Movement and other breakaway factions for the NDC to again win an election in 2008. But did this change the dynamics in the party in anyway?

I argue that the dynamics in the party has not changed much, and the struggle between the DT and BT is as raging today as it was in the 1990s. However unlike in 1990s, the DT today needs to take a stance in the party and work to strengthen the grassroots structures and save the soul of the party.

The following is an update of my 1997 article. The contents and arguments are as relevant today as they were in 1997, 20 years on. History always repeats itself, how will we handle it this time round?

The struggle in the NDC 

20 years ago, the key question I asked was “Where is the NDC going?”. Looking back, it would appear the NDC has been marking time, and the decisions that needed to have been taken in 1997, are still outstanding.

The concerns raised by party grassroots today which eventually led to the defeat of the party in the 2016 polls are not different from the concerns 20 years ago. Lack of internal party democracy; increasing subordination of the party government (or cliques within government); drift in economic management; and the failure of the leadership to address allegations of corruption, arrogance and lawlessness on the part of political appointees all sound familiar. These were verbatim, the same concerns raised back in 1997.

As mentioned in the preamble, the recent machinations to entrench certain leaderships is a symptom of the battle for the soul of the NDC between the “democratic” and “bureaucratic or executive” tendencies that have existed since its creation. Let us look at these tendencies.

The NDC Democratic Tendency for the most part emerged from the nation-wide consultation amongst progressive activists between 1990 and 1992. This involved pro PNDC progressives as well as older activists and leaders particularly from the CPP.

These were people in many cases opposed to the 31st December coup d’état, the “excesses” of the revolution and the growing intolerance of the PNDC. There was substantial common ground: recognition that constitutional stability could only be based on the gains made by democratic and productive forces under the PNDC (with recognition for genuine victims of PNDC injustice) and a desire to transcend the bureaucratic populist politics of both the CPP and PNDC. Only a party with a more vigorous and powerful base could release and channel the energy and ideas needed to build the new Ghana.

Activists then promoted community pressure groups to protect the “democracy and development” gains made by the mass movement during the PNDC era. It was at this level of party construction that the “unity stability development” platform, the “Akatamanso” symbol and the party constitution with its strong emphasis on democratic processes were developed.

Community groups then linked up developing constituency, district and regional identity. The result was the “sudden” emergence of regional associations such as the Development Unions (DU), “the Front” and the “Fun club” as the dominant force on the political landscape in mid-1992. The process of bottom-up party construction had proved a phenomenal success. It however suffered a setback with the arrival of the Executive Tendency after June 1992.

The Bureaucratic or Executive Tendency emerged from the PNDC bureaucracy. Key functionaries who had been promoting either EAGLE or “NCP” as vehicles for “continuity” abandoned these options after June 1992 in favour of the obviously stronger alternative. As individual progressives, of course these had as much right as anyone else to participate in party building. As a group with a more authoritarian and bureaucratic political culture then integration into the party was problematic.

To secure Chairman Rawlings’ name on the party ticket and avoid a clash that could harm party electoral ambitions, the Democratic Tendency made tactical compromises. It accepted limitations to the character and scope of debate at the 1992 congress – allowing it to run largely as a “media spectacle”/ “jamboree”. It accepted the proposed “progressive Alliance” without debate. Finally, it adopted a list of national executives sent “from the Castle”. The hope was that after the 1992 elections, the process of party construction would resume bringing the leadership structures and culture in line with that of the base and influencing the character and running of government.

This did not happen. President Rawlings carried the old PNDC machine intact into the new administration leading to a drastic loss of momentum and direction. “Continuity” in government meant “business-as-usual” – the effective side-lining of the party manifesto and new democratic institutions (e.g. Parliament and party) in favour of the old PNDC programme, methods and relationships. “Continuity” also strengthened the executive tendency within the congenitally weak NEC reducing it to an instrument of state “control”.

In the recent past, the bureaucratic tendency has reared its head in the form of lack of consultations with the party on key government policy decisions i.e. the introduction and implementation of the botched electoral register which was forced down the throats of the party without any well thought out guidelines, the undemocratic attack on Alhaji Huudu Yahaya to step down in Kumasi during the 2014 Congress, implementation of ESLA in December 2015, withdrawal of the allowances for the Trainee Nurses and Teachers with its attendant demonstrations against the government prior to the December 2016 elections. Indications are that rather than engaging in broad consultations to produce a credible register, the party is on a path to reintroduce the delegates system of voting.

The problem has never simply been conflicts between individuals and groups within the party. It is an undemocratic culture of authority that permeates our whole society (including groups advocating change) reflecting our colonial and chieftaincy inheritance. It encourages arrogance at the leadership level and sycophancy at lower levels. It misleads leadership, especially in bad times driving the system into crises. Ultimately this culture toppled the CPP.

The AFRC and the PNDC initially challenged this culture, but it revived in the late 80s and eventually toppled the NDC in 2000, the NPP in 2008 and the NDC again in 2016. Eradicating it should be one of the fundamental aims of the NDC today. And this requires humility and self-criticism and reorientation from everybody not arrogance or fear mongering.

In my 1997 article, I stated that “If the NDC is to go forward, it must channel its energies into party construction. This requires targets. For example, let us say that the next national delegates congress must achieve three things; it must set a long-term agenda for national socio-economic development. It must set a programme of political work to support this national agenda. And finally, it must put in place the leadership structure and personnel necessary to implement this programme.

The NEC can prepare for such a congress by initiating and coordinating broad internal discussion on development issues and party reform. It must assemble the think tanks to get the process rolling and commit resources to research any interesting approaches that emerge from brainstorming. It must then take the results to the party structures and promote discussions from the ground. Party leadership will find that if it opens doors, human and other resources can be found to support this work.”

Today, these are the very recommendations contained in the portions of the Kwesi Botchwey report that the party has released.

Unfortunately, the last time the NDC had an opportunity to conduct this kind of reorganisation, the opportunity was botched. By July 1997, some NDC founding members started raising the issues which led to an engagement between the NDC founding members for Reform and the National Executive Committee led by Alhaji Issifu Ali. During that time, the collective understanding reached was that notwithstanding the lack of consultation prior to the NDC congress, the expectation was that the issues of non-democratic tendencies raised will be addressed during the party’s congress in Sekondi in 1998.

That congress however failed to address the issues and rather confirmed the President then as the Founder of the NDC. Eventually, this led to the breakaway of the NDC founding members for reform, culminating in the formation of the National Reform party.

By 2006, recognising the need to reach out to the DT, the then Presidential Candidate, John Evans Atta Mills impressed on the members of the NDC who had left the party to return and once again work towards building a truly grassroots and democratic party. The agenda to rebuild the party however was dropped once again after the securing of electoral victory in the 2008 elections.

Rejuvenation, reorganization and reform agenda for the NDC

The defeat of 2016, presents the NDC with an opportunity to return to this long outstanding agenda. The membership of the NDC today will need to stand up to the Bureaucratic Tendency that is looking to entrench itself in the party. The agenda for the party should be that of rejuvenation, reorganisation and reform, and not endorsements and power struggles.

As I mentioned in 1997, “This agenda is not “book-long” or legalistic nor is it a negation of leadership. Visionary leadership is required to move from “orientation” to “programme” to “implementation”. NDC must however allow the country to benefit from the party’s enormous human resource rather than depending always on the wisdom and abilities of a few over-worked (an overwhelmed) individuals. We must enable the vision of national mobilization that inspired the building of the NDC.

For example, NDC’s massive support base include leaders of all the indigenous non-partisan stakeholders in the economy. In terms of the quality of ideas and capacity for consensus and commitment building, it makes sense to develop a socio-economic programme within the party and then present this to the nation.

With the party mobilized to support a clear policy direction, it can also instil discipline through vigilance. Political appointees and public servants can be made effectively answerable to the public. Ultimately, mobilisation is the only real response to corruption, official arrogance and lawlessness. We cannot change human nature, but we can control it. The public vigilance achieved in the early 1980s can be revived in a structural manner that incorporates due process and respect for individual rights and does not discourage initiative.

A clear programme and discipline would solve most of the party’s real problems. That leaves the question of managing public perception. Again, mobilisation is the answer. It is bitterly ironic that today the most effective political and publicity network in the country lies idle while its government is intimidated by opposition-sponsored tabloids and is unable to respond effectively even in the most outrageous assaults on its integrity.

This orientation is uniquely that of the NDC. The leadership required is available only within the NDC. Our history affirms that it can be done. Reproducing the revolutionary mobilizing power of the early 1980s in a democratic pluralistic constitutional framework would be a first in African (and perhaps world) development history.

This however is the historical task of the NDC and Ghana – a task fitting for the country that led black Africa to independence. This is the unique legacy President Rawlings must leave for Ghana and the world.

This is the only meaningful future for the NDC.”
–
By Albert Macala

The post Will the NDC survive its 2nd ‘Swedru Declaration’? appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The former President has remained coy on whether he will run for the top office in 2020, stating on a number of platforms that he would like members of the NDC  to instead focus on the party reorganisation.

[contextly_sidebar id=”baAhNTO4TAg5ROeMdmTvKlwIMgsod98X”]However, a recent joint statement from all ten regional chairmen of the NDC brought his presidential aspirations under the spotlight again, as they appeared to back John Mahama to contest in 2020.

The statement from the Chairmen has not gone down well with some officials of the party and prompted the former President to issue a response reiterating his call on the party to focus on the efforts to mend the cracks within its fold, and strengthen its structures as it aims to recapture power in 2020.

However, the chairmen’s endorsement is just the latest in a number of public declarations of support for John Mahama.

Several persons including Ghana’s former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Victor Smith, and the party’s National Organizer, Kofi Adams, have stated that John Dramani Mahama is the party’s best hope for victory in 2020.

And according to Ricketts-Hagan, who served under Mahama as the Central Regional Minister, such pronouncements could breed disunity within the party and could negatively affect the level of support the former president could receive should he contest.

“This idea of some people showing that they love the former president more than others, I don’t get it. There may be some other motives behind this because we are going through some kind of restructuring and in the process, people are also restructuring with that. These things can be done, but you don’t have to do a press release. You can go to Mahama’s house or anyone else’s and encourage them that you think they’ll be a good candidate, even if you were sent by your people to deliver their sentiments,  you could do that behind closed doors. When you are done with the discussions you can go back to your region and report to the people that you have delivered their message and the man says he’s thinking about it,” he said on Citi FM‘s news analysis programme, The Big Issue on Saturday.

“Making these kinds of pronouncements and declarations don’t help our party. These things that people are doing, in the end, does not help John Mahama if he wants to come back, it rather hurts him. The [regional chairmen] shouldn’t have made it public, probably [other] people go and see him behind closed doors to talk to him to come back. With those who are potential aspirants, I’m sure they are not doing it on their own strengths, maybe people have been seeing them and telling them that they are good candidates.

Punish regional chairmen

There have been several calls from within the NDC for the ten regional chairmen to be sanctioned for their statement.

A member of the  NDC’s National Executive Committee (NEC), Kofi Kukubor, has asked the party’s Council of elders to take “swift action” against them.

NDC MP for South Dayi, Rockson Dafeamakpor, noted that “these regional Chairmen, who also are members of the National Executive Committee (NEC), have in a way sidelined, or will seek to sideline other potential contestants, and as the highest decision-making body of the party, they ought not to do that.”

The Wa West MP, Rashid Pelpuo, advised the Regional Chairmen to “play within the rules.”

“I am sure they are responding to the pressures from the grassroots, but they should be able to advise the grassroots so we can all do it in a decorous manner,” the MP suggested.

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By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Hasty endorsements could hurt Mahama’s ambitions – Ricketts-Hagan appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The ten regional chairman after a meeting on Thursday, November 9, 2017, issued a communique in which they urged the former President to consider running for the 2020 polls.

The brief statement did not give further details as to why they were making the call.

They also urged him to embark on a “Thank you” tour of the country although belated, to thank party loyalists for their support during the December 2016 polls.

This comes barely a week after the former President told party supporters at the party’s unity walk in Cape Coast, that a decision as to whether or not he would contest was immature, since it could affect the party’s ongoing re-organisation agenda.

However, at the same unity walk event, the former President made comments that  suggested that he is most likely to contest the race.

Nonetheless, it comes a surprise to many why these chairmen will take such a decision to single out the former President for this subtle endorsement when others have also expressed their interest to contest the race.

I’ve no problem with those interested in 2020 – Mahama

The former President also stated in Cape Coast that he was unperturbed about the opposition he was likely to face in the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) presidential primaries ahead of the 2020 general elections.

He said he has no problem with the candidates who have so far declared their intentions of leading the party in the next presidential election.

Individuals who have declared their intentions to contest in the primaries include former boss of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Sylvester Mensah, former Vice-Chancellor of the University for Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), Prof. Joshua Alabi, former Trades and Industry Minister, Dr. Ekow Spio Garbrah, former Member of Parliament for La Dadekotopon Nii Amasah Namoale, Member of Parliament for Nadoli Kaleo, Alban Bagbin and Stephen Atubiga.

Read the communique below:

At a meeting held today, Thursday November 09, 2017, in Cantonments, Accra with HE John Dramani Mahama, former President of the Republic of Ghana, we the ten (10) regional chairpersons of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) have:

1. Invited the former President to, as a matter of urgency, embark on the delayed and much-awaited ‘Thank You Tour’ to thank supporters of the NDC for supporting him through his tenure and the party over the years;

2. Called on HE John Dramani Mahama to consider the request of teeming supporters of the NDC and Ghanaians to lead the party to the 2020 General Elections;

The 10 Chairmen so signed the communique are; Mr Kobina Ade-Coker, Greater Accra; Mr Micheal Aidoo, Western; Alhaji Mumuni Bolnaba, Upper East; Mr John K. Gyapong, Volta; Mr Opoku Atuahene, Brong Ahafo; and Mr Matthew Song-Aabo, Upper West; Mr Bismark Tawiah Boateng, Eastern; and Mr Yaw Obimpeh, Ashanti.

The others are Alhaji Sofo Azorka, Northern and Mr Allotey Jacobs of the Central Region.

Meanwhile, these ten regional chairmen, whose tenure took the party to opposition, will themselves be competing for their positions when the party goes to the polls in 2018.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post NDC Chairmen ‘endorse’ Mahama for 2020 appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

In a recent comment, the former President, who appears to be interested in the race but has failed to be emphatic about it, said he’s not bothered about others seeking to vie for the slot, saying his favourite candidate is Stephen Atubiga, one of the party’s communicators.

“Atubiga is even my favourite Presidential candidate,” Mahama said when he addressed teaming supporters of the party at a Unity Walk at Cape Coast in the Central Region on Sunday.

[contextly_sidebar id=”VBCFHIT0r20OzuuNxxEOWmAVE75VgyJt”]Atubiga in 2015 contested in the NDC’s parliamentary primaries in Binduri constituency in the Upper East Region, but was unsuccessful.

Apart from Atubiga, several members of the NDC including, Nadowli-Kaleo MP, Alban Bagbin, Dr. Spio-Garbrah, former NHIA boss, Slyvester Mensah, Joshua Alabi, former MP for La-Dadekotopon, Nii Amasah Namoale among others, have given indications they may contest the flagbearership position.

Speaking at the event, John Maham, under whose leadership the party woefully lost power to the New Patriotic Party (NPP), at the event, hinted at his interest in leading the NDC again.

The former President said he bears no grudges against persons who have shown interest in the party’s flagbearership position.

“I have no problem with any of my colleagues who has expressed interest in leading this great party. Let us not attack anyone because whoever is elected to lead us to victory 2020, will need the support of each and everyone.”

He said: “Spio was my boss and later became my minister; Joshua was my colleague in Parliament and later became the Vice Chancellor of UPSA, Slyvester was the NHIS Boss and later a Presidential Staffer… It’s not now that they want to contest that I will have a problem with them….Let us all work in unity for victory 2020.”

The NDC is expected to elect its flagbearer before the end of December 2018.

Atubiga jailed for 3-days in 2013

Stephen Atubiga, became known for the wrong reasons during the election petition after the 2012 elections.

This was after he made comments the supreme court considered contemptuous, and jailed him for three days in 2013, alongside NPP’s Ken Kuranchie, then editor of the Daily Searchlight Newspaper, who was also jailed 10-days for a similar offence.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post NDC flagbearership race: Atubiga is my favourite – Mahama appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

This came as posters with Mr. Bagbin, the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, announcing his readiness to contest for the flagbearer slot of the NDC made rounds on social media.

[contextly_sidebar id=”6OLsadlTL7h6rixOaGq0xFAtyHwXFMGC”]The posters, which are circulating on social media with a picture of Alban Bagbin have the caption: “Bagbin 2020” with a proposed motto “Tried, Tested & Committed” beneath it.

But it is unclear where the posters are emanating from.

Nonetheless, in a Citi News interview, the Communications Officer of the constituency, Isaac Badita, said the Constituency is fully behind the longest serving MP should he confirm a bid for the presidency

“He [Bagbin] talked about it at a function and we realized that it is a good move and looking at the position of the party at this time, we think that it will be good for him to be part of the race and we will see what will come out of it in 2020.”

“The last time we were in opposition in 2001 to 2008, the role he played as minority leader and the way he climbed the ladder to where he is with his contribution to the party and governance, I think that he is well prepared to handle the mantle of the flagbearership,” Mr. Badita noted further.

Alban Bagbin, born on 24 September 1957, hails from the Upper West Region of Ghana. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Law and English at the University of Ghana in 1980.

He proceeded to the Ghana School of Law at Makola in Accra after which he was called to the bar in 1982.

In 2008, Bagbin announced intentions to run for president on the NDC ticket, but he never stood for the primaries.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Nadowli/Kaleo NDC wants Bagbin in 2020 flagbearership race appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

At a meeting with former appointees under his administration two weeks ago, the former President rather recommended a careful re-organisation and assessment of the NDC following the party’s defeat in the 2016 election.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Onqn2IeqlpWw7Kj3GDLcXEjcUQNSto0s”]“For people talking about leadership and the presidency, it is absolutely premature. If you ride a lame horse into a race and you lose the race, your priority must be to cure the lameness of the horse and not about who will ride the horse.”

Mr. Mahama, who has himself been endorsed by a number of NDC members for the 2020 flagbearership, explained that the choice of flagbearer will take shape organically based on the dynamics of the time.

“If we do our work well and do good branch organisations, bring it to the constituency level and the regional level, and have a strong healthy party, the dynamic on the ground will determine who should lead the party.”

The former President further assured that, he will be committed to whoever is selected to lead the NDC in the 2020 elections saying, “whoever leads the party, I am a committed member and I will support that person to the hilt.”

Mahama shoulders blame for 2016 defeat

Prof. Kwesi Botchway is currently leading a 13 member committee in a postmortem of the NDC’s woeful election performance amidst finger-pointing within the party and its base, as to the individuals who caused the defeat.

In the meantime, Mr. Mahama has decided to shoulder the blame for the defeat, and urged all grievances from party members to be directed at him because he led the party in the elections.

“Of course as the General who led us into battle, I take ultimate responsibility for our losing the election and so if it will satisfy those people, blame me for the loss,” Mr. Mahama said.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Flagbearer talks premature; let’s fix the “lame horse” – Mahama appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Movie lovers will see some of Africa’s finest actors and actresses come Friday September 19.

A Letter from Adam is a romantic drama directed by Atlanta-based director, Sam Kessie and features the likes of  Lydia Forson, Wale Ojo, Naa Ashorkor Mensah-Doku, Akorfa Edjeani, Fred Kanebi and introducing Jeff Kumordzie and Louie Lartey.

A Letter from Adam seeks to prove that love doesn’t always come in the form one expects it to.

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By: Kojo Akoto Boateng/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Lydia Forson’s ‘A Letter From Adam’ premieres September 19 appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.