…Tells party to face & address its demons if….
A former Director of National Service Secretariat and a staunch member of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Prof. Michael Kpessa-Whyte, has asked his party to stop the “self-delusion” and face its demons, if it wants to win the 2024 general election with John Dramani Mahama back in the Jubilee House.
In a write up which he sent out last week and copied The Herald, the political science lecturer at the University of Ghana, delved into some of the factors that led to the NDC’s defeat at the 2020 presidential elections, revealing a party infested by moles snitching for the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), and very much unprepared for the elections, especially the transmission of Presidential results.
Prof. Kpessa-Whyte, who was in the EC’s strongroom with Rojo Mettle-Nunoo for the 2020 polls, disclosed that the NDC, could not do any comparative analysis because it had no figures of its own to relate to those of the Electoral Commission (EC) because “…..at the time the party’s results collation system had broken down, yet nobody even cared enough to inform us, but everyone was hoping we could bring victory. How unrealistic and pathetic can we be!
He gave the admonishment in a congratulatory message to the recently appointed NDC officers, some of whom have been offered the same positions they occupied during the NDC’s back-to-back defeat in 2016 and 2020, but with the hope of them doing something new for victory at the 2024 polls.
Interestingly, since his disclosures went viral, many NDC party members, have avoided commenting on the subject publicly, however, it has stoked massive indoor political discussions at various places. Some feel the NDC and its stalwarts have been cunningly deceitful in getting some Ghanaians believe that the 2020 elections was stolen for incumbent President, Nana Akufo-Addo.
The opposition party, had spent months in the Supreme Court with an Election Petition which turned out to be a mirage, as it could not produce figures to rebut the EC’s numbers which had also been changed three or more times on the basis of arithmetic errors.
But Prof. Kpessa-Whyte asked “Let’s own up to our collective mistakes and errors and stop the blame game, there is nothing to gain from self-delusion”, he stressed and cautioned “…those who keep asking why the two agents left the EC strongroom at the same time, be careful what you ask for because you might not like the answers. ….Our decision to remain silent in order to hold our party together has been taken to mean we are to be blamed, and surprisingly, some of those who are beneficiaries of our deliberate silence have joined the delusion for personal convenience”.
Prof. Kpessa-Whyte, charged “we all want NDC and JM to win, but victory will not come if we continue to delude ourselves. Let’s speak openly about the institutional errors and systemic failures we encountered so that those in charge now, can benefit from that to improve their operations and help harvest the victory we are all desirous to see from the December 2024 elections”.
He queried “how can a party that has admitted that it was unable to collate its 2020 results, claim it lost from the strongroom? Which result did the party give to its agents in the strongroom? Why hasn’t the party put out its results if indeed there was one? What is there to gain from deluding ourselves into another defeat? God forbids! Let’s own up to our collective mistakes and errors and stop the blame game, there is nothing to gain from self-delusion.
Prof. Kpessa-Whyte told the NDC “we must be truthful to ourselves if we are serious about rescuing Ghana then let’s stop trying to hide our collective negligence by blaming people who otherwise were sacrificing on the frontline for our cause. Sometimes one gets the sense that some people in our party project their corrupted values on others and draw funny conclusions.
“I recall, in those days in the EC strongroom, out of concern and worry that results from our party was not reaching us, I placed a message on one of the key NDC platform to ask for help, I was immediately advised to delete the message because it may fall in the hands of the NPP, and they will get to know we had a problem. That advice got me thinking why on an internal party platform we cannot trust ourselves, made me wonder if we are truly serious for victory. Not knowing that at the time the party’s results collation system had broken down, yet nobody even cared enough to inform us, but everyone was hoping we could bring victory. How unrealistic and pathetic can we be!
Below is his write up titled *Congratulations to Newly Appointed NDC Officers and More*
I wish to congratulate all the newly appointed officers for various positions in our party- the NDC ahead of the 2024 elections. The team is refreshingly solid but they need our collective support to succeed. They harbour the seeds that will birth our victory so let’s support them.
But I also wish to use the opportunity to address an issue that ought to be given attention if our fight to win is to succeed. It is an issue I want to bring to the attention of the new officers, especially Dr. Edward Omani Boamah, my classmate and friend for several years in his role as the Director of Elections for our party. I opt to address this publicly because many have deluded themselves on account of the subject matter in a manner that is not helpful for our party.
Indeed, if our party, the NDC is truly desirous to win 2024, it would make sense for party officials and members to eliminate the delusion that elections are won from the EC strong room, and that we lost 2020 from the EC strongroom. Elections are won and lost at the polling stations.
How can a party that has admitted that it was unable to collate its 2020 results, claim it lost from the strongroom? Which result did the party give to its agents in the strongroom? Why hasn’t the party put out its results if indeed there was one? What is there to gain from deluding ourselves into another defeat? God forbids! Let’s own up to our collective mistakes and errors and stop the blame game, there is nothing to gain from self-delusion.
We must be truthful to ourselves if we are serious about rescuing Ghana then let’s stop trying to hide our collective negligence by blaming people who otherwise were sacrificing on the frontline for our cause. Sometimes one gets the sense that some people in our party project their corrupted values on others and draw funny conclusions.
I recall, in those days in the EC strongroom, out of concern and worry that results from our party was not reaching us, I placed a message on one of the key NDC platform to ask for help, I was immediately advised to delete the message because it may fall in the hands of the NPP, and they will get to know we had a problem. That advice got me thinking why on an internal party platform we cannot trust ourselves, made me wonder if we are truly serious for victory. Not knowing that at the time the party’s results collation system had broken down, yet nobody even cared enough to inform us, but everyone was hoping we could bring victory. How unrealistic and pathetic can we be!
The current National Chairman, General Secretary and several others who contested for national positions were unequivocal that NDC was unable to collate results, and used that as campaign messages in their respective contests. So why do we ignore that truth and persist in trying to make it appear as though our problem was from the EC strongroom? For instance, at a meeting with delegates from various constituencies in the Greater Accra region held in Prampram, on December 12, 2022, Hon. Fifi Kwatey was categorical that Rojo Mettle-Nunoo and Kpessa-Whyte could not, cannot, and should not be blamed for the electoral misfortunes of the NDC in 2020 elections. Similar comments were heard in a widely circulated audio that is purported to have emanated from the campaigns of the former General Secretary and now National Chairman, Hon. Johnson Asiedu Nketia.
And for those who keep asking why the two agents left the EC strongroom at the same time, be careful what you ask for because you might not like the answers. Do you honestly think Rojo and Kpessa-Whyte left the EC strongroom on their own without first discussing it with persons in position within the party hierarchy? Are you aware the party through its lawyers brought a petition to the EC and they refused to take it? Do you know how we got there? And who says at the time we were leaving the strongroom there was no NDC person there? Our decision to remain silent in order to hold our party together has been taken to mean we are to be blamed, and surprisingly, some of those who are beneficiaries of our deliberate silence have joined the delusion for personal convenience.
After careful reflections, I have come to what is perhaps a belated conclusion, that continuous silence on such important issues might amount to doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result; and I see this time of new officers picking up the mantle in crucial positions and roles in our party, as probably the best time to start these conversations. So, this piece is based on, and guided by the best of intensions, hoping that it will prompt some collective self-introspection and rude awakening across various levels of the party in our quest for victor in 2024.
We all want NDC and JM to win, but victory will not come if we continue to delude ourselves. Let’s speak openly about the institutional errors and systemic failures we encountered so that those in charge now, can benefit from that to improve their operations and help harvest the victory we are all desirous to see from the December 2024 elections.
Enough of the pretense, John Mahama deserves better!
