Konadu Campaign Team Cries Foul, Wednesday June 22, 2011, Pg 13
The Nana Konadu for 2012 Campaign Team has accused the leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) of sidelining the team as the party constitutes its Electoral Committee for the July 8-10, 2011 congress to elect its flag bearer.“We have written to the General Secretary asking for us to be included on the electoral committees of the party which are responsible for ensuring a fair, unbiased and democratic election at the congress. This was treated with contempt, as we received a letter informing us that our request cannot be granted,” it said.
Addressing a news conference in Accra, to give an overview of the team’s campaign tour of seven out of the 10 regions, the Co-ordinator of the Nana Konadu for 2012 Campaign Team, Mr Namburr Berrick, alleged that members of the NDC’s Electoral College responsible for supervising the congress were largely members of the President Mills Campaign Team.
According to him, with the exception of Mr Kofi Adams, who as the Deputy General Secretary, has been made an ordinary member of one of the committees based on his role as the Deputy General Secretary of the NDC, the team’s request had been ignored.
He alleged that in the course of the campaign, there had been a grandiose design of “vile propaganda used especially against our candidate”.
“This, unfortunately, has been given prominence by some agents of the media. The Nana Konadu for 2012 Campaign Team has exercised decorum in our campaign throughout the country which has received maximum support from the delegates and the grass roots,” he stated, amidst cheers from placard-bearing party supporters.
Mr Berrick said members of the Get Atta Mills Endorsed (GAME) group were determined to do anything fair or foul to get victory on its side, adding that “this desperation, by our assessment, shows they have lost and will stop at nothing to reverse our assured victory”.
He said the issue was not an internal matter for the NDC because it had repercussions on the wider society.
Mr Berrick stated that even though the team had notified the party hierarchy of the intimidation and frustration that it faced, no attempt had been made to deal with the concerns raised.
Mr Berrick, who was flanked by some members of the Konadu Campaign Team, including Mr Adams, accused some regional executives of the party of plotting to derail the campaign activities of the Konadu camp.
Citing the Brong Ahafo Region as an example, he stated that the team had always notified the regional executives with a formal letter prior to entering a region, followed by a meeting with the executives.
“In the Brong Ahafo Region, this was done. However, the regional chairman, together with some government functionaries such as district and municipal chief executives in the region, decided to take hostage of our delegates in their residences to derail the programme of the Nana Konadu 2012 Campaign Team by making sure that they physically prevented the candidate from meeting the delegates.
“By holding these delegates hostage, it is clear that the President Mills Campaign Team was infringing on articles 6(b) and 6(c) of the Election of the NDC Presidential Candidate Guideline which calls for equal opportunity, transparency and unfettered access to all regional and constituency structures,” he said.
He said those tactics notwithstanding, the delegates made their way to meet the Konadu Campaign Team late in the night, not only to listen but also pledge their support for her.
“The team also alleged that GAME was determined to let the voting take place regionally. This is an act of intimidation to force regions to vote regionally. 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,” Mr Berrick stated.
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