The Greater Accra Region Organizer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is peeved about the role the party’s founder, Jerry John Rawlings, played in the defeat in the December 7 polls.
He reiterated that the founder must share in the reason for the defeat.
Speaking on 3FM’s Sunrise on Tuesday, January 3, Anthony Nukpenu insisted that the founder needs to move away from the old school of party mobilisation and trends of pure voluntarism, adding “that there is no volunteerism in this world again”.
“The very things people see today as opulent and affluence is different. People are becoming sophisticated in politics so you must get into the new trends of politics.
“Today you can’t meet party supporters without giving them stipend for transportation but when you do that it’s seen as using money to destroy the fiber of the party. There is no voluntarism in this world again. People must get that straight into their heads,” he insisted.
He further argued that party members must be motivated to work.
“Nobody is using money to destroy the party. That’s the only way you can motivate the young Ghanaians. Everything you do today in party mobilization, [it] must be based on motivation for them to work for you.
“You can’t motivate them by word of mouth. You must provide in terms of monetary issues. We’ve moved from the days when people would work on an empty stomach.”
Fuming over plans of deserting the party
Asked whether he would desert the party because they have gone into opposition, an obviously emotional Anthony Nupkenu retorted he is not an opportunist like some party functionaries.
“I am not an opportunist. I am a member of the party why should I desert the party?
“Only opportunists run away when the party goes into opposition. I’ll forever be committed to serve the NDC even if I don’t have a position. We’ve been in opposition before and we remained with the party. I’ve been a student leader in the party from 2000 to 2004; we used to take our student loan to mobilize for the party. But now some people think they are best at serving this party.
“There are people in this party today who will not commit a dime in mobilizing their brands. We’ve gone to elections and lost and they’re not ashamed of what they did for all us to be defeated but are running helter skelter claiming they are committed cadres. They should give us a break, the coming days will unfold its own events and we will respond to them in equal measure.”
He, however, called for calm within the rank and file of the party, adding that their defeat should be seen as a collective responsibility.
“Everybody should be calm and let us work to form a formidable force in opposition and give the NPP a match.
“Please let’s respect ourselves, I am not mentioning any names [but] in the coming days they will be revealed. Those clamouring for positions should rather be sober and do some introspection.”
Asked whether he was referring to Goosie Tanoh, he only replied:
“All of them know themselves. They should do an introspection to find out what they did to contribute to the defeat of the NDC rather than clamouring for and grapping positions like grasshoppers.
“They should give us a break. We have served this party selflessly to make sure we keep the faith of people in this party.”
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