The Deputy General Secretary of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) Koku Anyidoho has said every party member who defects to the opposition New Patriotic Party always have his or her life plunged into misery.
He’s thus cautioned any NDC supporter who has such an intention of switching camp to rethink the decision or wallow in abject distress.
Koku Anyidoho made the comment while commenting on one of the kingpins of the ruling party, Awal Mohammed, who is believed to be very influential in the zongo communities in the country, having crossed carpet to the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Awal Mohammed, until his resignation, was a deputy National Communications Officer for the Zongo Caucus of the NDC and as well a senior member of the NDC communications team in the Ashanti Region.
He was also the media relations officer for the Zongo Caucus which is the official wing of the NDC in the zongo communities.
At a news conference on Wednesday to officially renounce the NDC, Awal Mohammed said he got convinced by the Zongo Development Fund promised to be set up by flag bearer of the NPP, Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo when given the mandate to govern the country.
“Not long ago, Nana Akufo-Addo came to the Ashanti Region and interacted with the zongos. In his interaction with the people, he promised to set up the Zongo Development Fund to help in face-lifting the zongo communities in the country in order to curb the challenges confronting the people.”
“A week after, I addressed a press conference and told the people that what Akufo Addo is promising is a lie because he doesn’t have any track record to support his claim. I further told my people that we in the NDC have better policies that can help in face-lifting the zongos communities and so, I urged the people not to give credence to what Akufo Addo told them. After that the NDC launched its manifesto and in the 88-page document, there is nothing that shows that they have plans for the zongo communities. It was only page 28 that I read that they will put our brothers and sisters in the zongo communities on the LEAP program to enable them enjoy some grants from the government.”
“But this is demeaning to the zongo communities because they are not interested in the small grants that would be doled out to them. In any case, how can they survive with that small grant when one is taking care of school children? The zongo communities rather need someone who will help in uplifting them from poverty by empowering them to survive on their own.”
“So, after analyzing this, I realized that we the zongos are being manipulated by the NDC who keep on using tribalism to divide us by telling us that the NPP does not like us. However, even though the NPP has not launched its manifesto, it has been able to demonstrate that when given the nod in 2017, they will earmark a fund to develop the zongos,” he noted.
However, in an interview with Neat FM, Koku Anyidoho stated that Awal will regret his decision judging by the experiences of such defectors such as Frances Essiam.
“When Frances Essiam defected to the NPP, what did she get? I know for a fact that if Frances Essiam was still in the NDC, she would have been one of the leading women in the party by now because as at the time that she defected, she was the National Organizer of the NDC, but today she has regretted her decision, but where is she now. So if somebody wants to defect, that is the person’s own decision and we wish the person well. But what I’m saying is that we’ve seen people leaving and have become very miserable. If Frances was still in the NDC, she would have been a cabinet minister and one of the leading women figures in the NDC.”
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