NDC rejects Konadu’s demand

Johnson Asiedu Nketia, General Secretary of NDC says Nana Konadu's demand for change in the party's regional voting pattern is baseless and unfounded.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has rejected the call by Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, main challenger to President Mills in the party’s presidential primary, to change the regional voting to be used by the party in the forthcoming Delegates Conference from July 8th -10th in Sunyani. The General Secretary of the party, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, told various radio stations in Accra that the proposal from the Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings camp was unfounded and baseless, since it undermined the constitution of the party, and that of the country at large.The NDC had planned to vote on a regional basis during the Sunyani polls, in order to speed up and save time in the voting process. But, Nana Konadu, through her campaign team, has kicked against such a move at a press conference in Accra, describing it as an act of intimidation, since it would bring much burden on delegates in determining which candidate to vote for.

According to Mr. Nketia, determining which town, city or region voted for a particular candidate does not infringe on the NDC or the 1992 Constitution. He said what the Constitution frowns upon was getting to know which candidate or individual voted for a particular candidate, and not that of a region, town or city.

He said the proposal from the Nana Konadu camp clearly indicates that they want to change the party’s constitution, a situation, he said, would not be entertained.

He averred that knowing which region voted for a particular candidate would be in the best interest of the candidate, since it would afford him or her the opportunity to correct mistakes made during the electioneering campaign.

“Does it mean that President Mills is not aware the Ashanti Region voted against him, doesn’t ex-President Kufuor know that the Volta and Northern Regions voted against him, or ex-President Rawlings not aware that the Ashanti Region voted against him?

“Voting regionally will even help the candidates to make corrections in their campaign messages and strategies, where necessary,” said Mr. Nketia.
Despite rejecting the proposal on air, he said his office had not even received any letter from the Nana Konadu campaign team to that effect. He entreated them to address their concerns to the committee in charge of organising the poll.

At a press conference in Accra on Tuesday, June 21, 2011, the campaign team of Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, led by the Campaign Coordinator, Nambour Berrick, kicked against plans by the party to vote regionally at the Sunyani polls.

The campaign team, with support from Friends of Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings (FONKAR) and Nana Konadu Network (NAKONET), described the move by the party as an act of intimidation, since it would bring much burden on the delegates in determining which candidate to vote for.

“This is an act of intimidation to force regions to vote regionally,” Mr. Berrick said, adding, “this will result in each candidate knowing which region did not vote for him or her, and we do not think this is the best for our democracy and national unity.”

Nana Konadu’s campaign team also cried foul against the continuous acts of intimidation by President Mills’ campaign team, Get Atta Mills Endorsed (GAME), and the deliberate attempt by the party’s hierarchy to sideline FONKAR members from the Electoral Committees of the party.

According to Nambour Berrick, all the complaints lodged to the party’s hierarchy had fallen on deaf ears, as their opponents (GAME) continue to engage in acts of intimidation against potential delegates whose votes would decide which candidate leads the NDC in the 2012 general elections.

“We have severally written to the General Secretary and the party chairman to complain about these issues, which has fallen on deaf ears,” Nambour Berrick told journalists at the press conference.

He accused the party’s hierarchy of a deliberate plot to give an advantage to Prof. Atta Mills over Nana Konadu in the party’s presidential primary.

“We have written to the General Secretary asking to be included on the Electoral Committees of the party, which are responsible for ensuring a fair, unbiased and democratic election, but this was treated with contempt, as we received a letter informing us that our request would not be granted,” Mr. Berrick alleged.

He said members of the Electoral College, responsible for supervising the NDC Congress, were largely members of the President Mills campaign team, with the exception of Kofi Adams, who is a deputy General Secretary.