The National Democratic Congress (NDC) says it has not invited its breakaway faction, the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) to observe its special delegates congress to elect a flagbearer at the University of Ghana, Legon. Deputy General Secretary Mohammed Baba Jamal told journalists in Accra yesterday ahead of today’s congress that DFP was not expected to attend because it had not been invited.

According to him, all other political parties had been invited except DFP, the bulk of whose members is disenchanted members of the NDC. The DFP members broke away from the NDC after the main opposition party’s acrimonious congress at the EREDEC Hotel, Koforidua last year where some goons suspected to be loyal to former President Jerry John Rawlings beat up people who were supportive of former National Chairman, Dr. Yao Obed Asamoah.

The decision to slam the door against DFP, according to Baba Jamal, was arrived at because some members of the breakaway party had spoken loud and clear that if the NDC invited them, they would not honour it. However, John Dramani Mahama, MP for Bole/Bamboi and NDC Director of Communications disagreed with Baba’s position, saying that even if some elements of DFP had taken an intransigent position, invitation should still have been extended to them.

John jokingly said since the Functional Executive Committee (FEC) had not taken such a decision, he was using the media to officially invite the DFP less than 24 hours to the programme. The Bole/Bamboi MP who dropped out of the flagbearership race, pleaded with the media not to blow any issue about the congress out of proportion.

Apparently haunted by the ghost of the Koforidua congress, John said adequate security had been put in place to ensure a crisis-free congress this time. “Everything is on track and we are ready for a successful day,” he assured. Hon Mahama indicated that the party had received various leads on possible trouble-makers and such information had been handed over to the security agents.

He would however not indicate the number of security agents to be deployed to the congress grounds. “That is left to the Greater Accra Regional Police Commander, ACP Akrofi-Asiedu,” he said. He warned trouble-makers to stay away from the congress, saying that non-accredited individuals would not be allowed in the congress hall.

200 journalists, he said, had been accredited to cover the event and assured them of their safety. At the controversial Koforidua congress, some journalists were threatened by the party thugs, leading to some of them taking cover under NDC-friendly media organisations. Over 1,700 delegates are expected to elect a flagbearer among the four presidential hopefuls but there are strong indications that Prof John Evans Atta Mills would be elected to lead the party again.

Prof Mills who is the choice of party founder Jerry John Rawlings, enjoys massive support from a large chunk of NDC supporters. According to them, he had been marketed in both 2000 and 2004 and was therefore the most known face in the party after Rawlings.

The former vice president is being challenged by Ekwow Spio Garbrah, a communications expert and former Minister of Education, Eddie Annan, a business mogul and CEO of Masai Group of Companies and Alhaji Iddrisu Mahama, former Minister of Defence.