– NDC Deputy General Secretary
A Deputy General Secretary of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mustapha Gbande has said Dr Kwabene Duffuor’s campaign team which has nagged about everything as far as Saturday’s polls is concerned, are not organised.
His comment, comes after the Duffuor campaign team called for a postponement of the May 13th Presidential and Parliamentary primaries over what they described as discrepancies in the voter register.
It doesn’t also look as though Dr Duffour and his team made of Yaw Boateng Gyan, Solomon Nkansah, Fritz Baffour, Rojo Mettle Nunoo, Gloria Huze and Koku Anyidoho among others, have toured many parts of the country compared to ex-President John Dramani Mahama, who on Monday got an endorsement from former Trade Minister Dr Spio-Garbrah at a press conference in Accra.
Mr Mahama, yesterday, ended a 3-day campaign tour of the Northern Region in the Tolon Constituency, while Duffuor keeps nagging about Saturday’s polls.
Dr Duffuor’s campaign team, had written a letter to the General Secretary of the NDC, complaining that the register is incomplete and inaccurate to be used for the elections.
Reacting to the complaints from Dr Duffuour’s camp on the State of the Nation on Class91.3FM yesterday, Tuesday, 9 May 2023, Mr Gbande, debunked any assertion of unfair play on the part of the Functional Executive Committee of the party.
“We have been fair to them, there are credible processes, transparent processes, national executives themselves have been [fair and working hard] leading to the processes where we have gotten now. If they [Duffuor’s campaign team] have any challenges leadership should be ready to address those things but they should not begin to think foul to the sensibilities of the executive committee of the party when that is not what is on the ground,” Mr Gbande stated.
In his view, “they themselves [Duffuor’s team] are not organised, if one asks for information, another group comes to ask for the same information, which means they are not sharing information amongst themselves so they should put themselves together well before accusing people who are innocent.”
But former Deputy General Secretary of the NDC, Samuel Koku Anyidoho, disagrees saying Dr Kwabena Duffour is the best candidate for the party going into the 2024 general election, asserting that Dr Duffour possesses all the characteristics required of the party’s flagbearer.
He emphasized that the economy is currently in a terrible situation that will require someone like Kwabena Duffour, who has previously overseen the nation’s finances to fix it.
“Given the current state of the economy, which needs to be fixed, it is now appropriate for someone with financial experience to assume charge of the affairs of the country, ” Samuel Koku Anyidoho told Kwaku Owusu Adjei(Patoo) on Adwenekasa on Accra-based Original FM 91.9.
According to him, Duffour’s track record and calm demeanor serves as a selling point for him to win the next election.
“Dr. Duffour’s experiences cannot, in any way, be compared to Mahama. Duffour may be “trying” to rule Ghana, but he is a superior choice. He has a particular history. He arrived with Mills and provided superior economic data; he is a businessman who later accepted a position as a lecturer at Legon; and he was one of the top governors of the Bank of Ghana,” he added.
Meanwhile, Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, a former Minister of Communications, declared support for John Mahama, ahead of Saturday’s presidential primaries because he is in pole position to win the flagbearership contest and subsequently wrestle power from the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2024 presidential election.
He said research conducted by his team of researchers at the regional and national levels and on social media indicated that the former President would secure not less than 80 percent of the total number of votes on Saturday.
“We have conducted various analyses of the election results of the past and have undertaken a S.W.O.T. analysis of our candidates looking into the future and have also examined the individuals who picked forms to contest the current flagbeareship race.
“…our research shows that the preference level for President John Mahama as the most credible and winnable candidate of the NDC to contest the presidential election was above 90 percent,” he said.
The NDC is expected to hold its presidential and parliamentary primaries on Saturday, May 13, 2023, to elect a flagbearer and parliamentary candidates for the 2024 Presidential and Parliamentary elections.
Ex-President Mahama, who was the flagbearer of the NDC in 2012, 2016, and 2020 presidential elections, is being challenged by Kojo Bonsu, a former Mayor of Kumasi, and Dr. Kwabena Duffuor, a former Minister of Finance.
Dr Spio-Garbrah, contested Mahama for the NDC flagberarship slot in 2019, but lost to the former President.
In 2008, he contested to lead the NDC in the 2008 presidential elections but lost to the late President John Evans Atta Mills.
Dr Spio-Garbrah commended Dr Duffuor and Bonsu for taking a bold step to advance democracy in the NDC and urged the two candidates to support Mahama after the primaries to secure victory for the NDC in the 2024 general election.
He said the country’s economy was in dire straits and required “urgent and speedy rebranding” to rebuild key sectors of the economy and deliver prosperity to the people.
He said he was confident that John Mahama could put the economy back on track and rebrand the country.
He also stated his readiness to use his experience and expertise from his private and public services across the globe to contribute to efforts to rebuild the country.
Meanwhile, Mr Mahama has at arrived in Wa to begin a two-day campaign tour of the Upper West Region.
Upper West is one of two regions left for Mr Mahama to visit before the May 13, 2023, presidential and parliamentary elections. On this tour, President Mahama is visiting all eleven constituencies to interact with the branch and constituency executives.
A stronghold of the NDC, Mr Mahama will use the tour to energise the base of the party, mobilise and motivate them ahead of the 2024 campaign.
The ‘Building the Ghana we want Together’ campaign has visited 257 constituencies in 14 regions, and according to the #JMCampaignTracker, that required traveling over 12,000 kilometres and interacting with more than 337,000 delegates.
From the Upper West Region, Mr Mahama will move to the Savanna Region to round up his 16-region campaign tour.
