FORMER Minister of Defence and a member of the Cadres Association of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr. Benjamin Kunbuor, has called on leadership of the party to hold an early congress.
This, he stressed, will save the NDC from breaking up.
Blaming the party’s defeat on corruption and greediness, the Cadres stressed that they wanted the current leadership of the NDC to call for an early congress to forestall the despondency that was fast creeping into the party, only for adventurists to exploit the situation.
“The NDC which had won four out of the six previous elections under the Fourth Republican Constitution on the platform of probity and accountability has no response to the numerous accusations of corruption and incompetence.
“…this gives credence to the adage that it is the ruling government which loses elections and not the opposition party that wins elections,” the Cadres underscored this in a statement signed by its Secretary, Akuamoah Ofosu, and issued to the media yesterday in Accra.
It noted that the NDC’s defeat in last year’s election was due to misplaced priorities of the leadership of the party.
According to the statement, the magnitude and spread of the defeat across the country was unprecedented.
The cadres in the statement could not understand why there has been a deafening silence from the party’s leadership, giving the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) an unchallenged political space to re-instate its dominance, while the rank-and-file of the NDC looks on in despair.
The statement pointed out that the leadership of the NDC was dumbfounded since they were over confident of a resounding victory, and therefore could not provide appropriate response to the anger and bitterness expressed by members of the party in the aftermath of the defeat.
“The NDC, as we are aware, was born out of a revolution and was crafted with the principles and values that were the main ingredients for the prosecution of the National Democratic Revolution.
“…the National Democratic Revolution was proclaimed on 31st December, 1981 with a view of creating a firm basis for the attainment of social justice, grassroots participatory democracy, probity and accountability in public life, rapid national development and social progress,” it said.
These, according to the statement, were to be attained through mass mobilisation, grassroots organisation, discipline and hard work by the masses and patriots of this country
It stated that the evolution of the contemporary multiparty democracy that “we enjoy today, was based on the struggles of ordinary people for political space and voice.”
The statement said the NDC has long held the belief that the people of this country will not surrender their independence and abandon their struggle to restore hope and dignity to the common man.
It maintained that the NDC has been structured in such a way as to enlist the active support and participation of the people at the grassroots and in the communities.
“This is to unite effort, promote democracy and enhance discipline. There is no substitute for grassroots mobilisation and organisation for electoral victory. Let us be reminded of the axiom that elections are won long before Election Day. The Election Day is for pulling your members, supporters and sympathisers to the polling booth to cast their votes.”
“We (Cadres) therefore need credible, committed, ideologically clear and dedicated party cadres and activists who believe in grassroots mobilisation and organisation to offer themselves for leadership of the party in the reorganisation exercise,” it stressed.
Meanwhile in an interview with Today yesterday, Dr. Kunbuor affirmed the cadres position on the early congress, saying any further delay(s) will spark doom for the NDC.
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