Press briefing by the concerned 'Cadres of the NDC Germany Chapter'

Ladies and gentlemen, it is with deep regrets and heavy hearts that we call on you today. We have called on you because on July 15, 2023, our Germany Chapter Secretary Comrade, Ing. Dr. Jerome Aliebakaa Kpan, who upon his return from
the NDC EU Conference in Amsterdam Holland, where he moderated the Conference that hosted His Excellency John Dramani Mahama and his entourage, after a long time of selfless dedication to its planning and had traveled the following weekend to Switzerland to help its Chapter with its further establishment after their inauguration, where he was to give a lecture in a Workshop on best practices he used in building the Germany Chapter, saw his suspension letter on social media which was posted by Alex Segbefia after many had called to draw his attention to it.

Ladies and gentlemen, this devastating news hit us in the Germany Chapter as though an asteroid from space had just crushed the planet and we were wondering
what it could be.

Our strongest pillar, selfless, reliable, but most importantly, a man who can be described as someone who breathes NDC, a man who burns with passion, who
despite being a student at the time of his suspension, used his little resources and time to move from city to city organizing and mobilizing people in collaboration with admirable comrades within those cities to form branches.

The one person who united the Chapter, who worked with everyone irrespective of their tribe and or religious backgrounds, the man who is the reason the
Chapter is where it is today and has been suspended after ten years of continued hard work to build the NDC Germany Chapter.

The reasons stated for the suspension are not only outrageous but the process used as stipulated in our constitution has also been violated in the cause of the suspension.

The Chapter's Secretary after so many years of relentless hard work has just been suspended without even an invitation to hear him out on the allegations
made against him by the petitioner Alex Segbefia, the Director of International Relations Directorate. The German Chapter Chairman who is the root cause of the
problems we have in the Chapter, was however invited to give evidence against the Secretary who has served him very well over the years.

Nonetheless, we have out of respect for our leaders written petition after petition, 219 out of the 287 members have signed a petition, calling on our leaders to reconsider their decision to reinstate CS Jerome as we affectionately call him to no avail.

We have done all we could through the internal structures but our plea has until now fallen on deaf ears. We the Cadres of the NDC Germany Chapter who have since the suspension been calling for the Chapter Secretary’s reinstatement, have been given no other choice but to use this medium to appeal to the conscience of the good leaders of our great party - The NDC to re-examine their actions and act accordingly as it is right.

This is because what we do internally is what we would do when given the mandate to lead our nation Ghana. As leaders elected into positions, we work to defend the integrity of our party at all times.

It is on this note that we are calling on the national executives to as a matter of urgency look into the matter and the petitions of 9 out of the 1 5 executive
committee members and others who have submitted to their offices and work to reinstate our chapter secretary, Ing. Dr. Jerome Aliebakaa Kpan to move the chapter from its current stagnation state.

Our secretary has been accused of insubordination, an allegation that has no basis nor bearing on the realities on the ground.

He has been accused of insinuating tribalistic politics and therefore dividing the chapter. The question is if it were so, how come the three spokespersons are from diverse tribes not to mention the multicultural, tribal, and religious backgrounds of the wider membership that have risen to fight for this cause?

CS Jerome is a man for all people. He is a man of integrity, he is humble but does not back down in the face of injustice.

Now, let us tell you about his crime. CS Jerome has been suspended for his defense of the integrity of our great party's Constitution.

The only crime he has committed is that he has refused to back down from the Constitution being violated again and again by the chairman of the Germany Chapter, Daniel Dake, who is working for a sect of the Chapter, that is just a combination of a few Comrades.

The Dake leadership has refused to allow transparency and accountability to the membership to which 9 out of the 1 5 executive members battled daily. He is notorious for his dictatorship rule and this has become more evident since the CS was ousted in its most cruel forms.

CS Jerome has been seen as the one who is the leader that instigates the 8 others to stand their ground for the right thing to be done, and so by getting rid of him, they thought to put fear in the others and force them to back down. But instead of achieving that, it has awakened us to the truth, about the politics of fear and intimidation that is going on in our party structures and
we know if we do not stand up today for a just Comrade, all those with integrity would be ousted and we would only be left with corrupt people to rule us.

We have seen what can happen when we sit down and do nothing and corrupt and rough people become leaders as the Akufo-Addo government has demonstrated.

The Akufo-Addo-led government has legalised corruption and they lead with pride in abusing the law and the rights of citizens to free speech and opinion.

This must not become a norm in our Party. This is what our founder fought against. We have to uphold truth, justice, accountability, and fairness, and work to get rid of corruption to accomplish what our founder sought to achieve to his blessed memory.

Alex Segbefia himself has taken to sidestepping the constitution, again and again, to allow Daniel Dake and his team the room to run the Chapter like personal property.

There is gross disrespect for the membership and FEC as well by Daniel Dake and that is because he rides on the back of Alex Segbefia who sanctions such leadership to the detriment of not the chapter but our party as a whole.

Daniel Dake is notorious for his autocratic style of leadership which has earned him the name Chairman Idi Amin. Dare post any criticism on our Chapter platforms
and you will be removed. Posts from those deemed as oppositions are deleted irrespective of their content.

Ladies and gentlemen, Comrades countrywide, comrades in the diaspora, the only way we will get freedom for ourselves is to identify with every oppressed person in the world. For this reason, we stand with Comrade CS Jerome and the former Zango Caucus Coordinator, Comrade Nurudeen, who also like many others, Alex Segbefia has been suspended since 2020 and headquarters has not once invited to hear him out nor had it acknowledged any petitions sent by him or on his behalf.

This tells us that; our party has no respect for its lower and middle class. Hardworking people are rewarded with suspension when they should be acknowledged and motivated to do more.

Comrades, yesterday it was Comrade Nurudeen- today it is Comrade CS Jerome - tomorrow it could be you or me.

We must say no to intimidation and the politics of fear which is to silence those of us seen as threats because we speak truth to power, they use suspension and or sidelining among others to put fear in us. But we must understand that it is our democratic right to speak against injustice, but above all defend the integrity of our party’s constitution, which is what Comrade CS Jerome has tried to do again that has caused his suspension.

Ladies and gentlemen, Comrades of our great party, Alex Segbefia has embarked on vindicative politics of intimidation within the diaspora as these problems we speak to, are not limited to Germany. He boasted in our general meeting that, in the USA, he had all the executive committee members suspended leaving only the chairman and one other person.

He went further to buttress the point that, he didn't care about having all of the 9 executive committee members suspended. And to those of us who don't like the leadership style of the chairman, we are free to leave the party, he added.

We know, that the National FEC, and especially the general secretary who signed the suspension of our CS has been misled. We appeal to their conscience especially the new disciplinary committee, which we thank the party leadership for putting in place to speedily address these matters because it is of utmost concern to not just us but the entire Chapter which needs to be moved from chaos and stagnation since the suspension of our CS Jerome.

Comrade Nurudeen, the former Zango Caucus Coordinator has been suspended since 2020. There has not been even a letter of acknowledgment to the numerous pleas for his case to be heard. We appeal to the disciplinary committee to please act on his case so that the unity that needs to be fostered in the Zango Caucus Germany Chapter can be achieved.

What we seek here is fairness. We ask that CS Jerome and Comrade Nurudeen be reinstated or at least invited to the disciplinary committee for their
case to be heard. This way, faith shall be restored to us in our leadership and we shall continue to give our all not only for the Germany Chapter but the party as a whole.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Comrades of Nadowli-Kaleo, Comrades in Ghana, we use this opportunity to call on all who are qualified to register as voters to please do
so while there is still time. It is our civic right and so we must exercise it.

Though the electoral commission has decided against every advice to maintain registration at their district offices for reasons best known to them, we,
nonetheless, must ensure that we are registered to enable us to determine who leads us. To our first-time voters, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is the best option for good governance of our country.

Remember, therefore, to vote for the NDC at all levels.

Thank you very much for your time and attention.