A “peacemaking and healing” tour of eminent and credible members of the National Democratic Congress has been recommended for the party in its quest to restructure to win political power in the 2020 election.
“We believe this is extremely important for purposes of creating the necessary conditions for any serious work that needs to be done in the way of the party’s restructuring and renewal,” Dr Kwesi Botchwey said Monday when his committee presented a report on NDC’s defeat in the 2016 elections to the party executives in Accra.
The 455-page report was the result of a six-month work by the Kwesi Botchwey committee that sought to establish the cause of the massive defeat suffered by the NDC in the December 7, 2016 general elections.
Though details of the report, especially reasons for the party’s loss in the election, were not disclosed at the presentation ceremony, Dr Botchwey outlined a number of recommendation by his Committee that would put the party back on track.
President Nana Akufo-Addo secured 5,716,609 votes, representing 53.84 per cent in the 2016 elections to snatch the presidency from President John Mahama who secured 4,713,277 votes, representing 44.40 per cent.
More than 40 parliamentary seats of the NDC were lost to the NPP,
Some NDC grassroots have accused the party leaderships of being behind the defeat, something that appears to have brought division into the party.
In an effort to reconcile the rank and file of the party, Dr Botchwey’s committee has recommended that key people in the party embark on a peace building tour of all constituencies in the country.
The Committee also wants the party to take steps to restore the integrity of the biometric register of the party and the expanded electoral college” which currently gives the ordinary members of the party to vote in the party’s primaries.
“Steps be taken to restore the capacity and effectiveness of the party’s organs especially at the branch level where we believe this organs are the most critical because they are the party’s immediate connections with the people. We are a truly mass party,” Dr Botchwey said.
He also underscored the need for the party to to improve collation of election results.
Dr Botchwey’s Committee further recommended the strengthening of research and intelligence in the party, which Dr Botchwey said should involve a “larger body of the party’s intellectual capacity”.
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