The ruling National Democratic Congress seems resigned to losing the battle over the ownership of the “umbrella” logo to former first lady Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, who last week laid claim to the ownership of the logo.

This is evident in the posters and bill boards of some of its parliamentary candidates in the run-up to the 2012 general elections, with Victor Smith, NDC candidate for Abuakwa North, and Kwame Awuah-Darko, Ayawaso West Wuogon, visibly hiding the NDC logo from their campaign posters and banners.

A drive along the Koforidua highway reveals a giant billboard of the Eastern Regional Minister, and Abuakwa North NDC parliamentary candidate, Victor Smith, without the NDC’s logo.

The billboard bearing the inscriptions “Mpontuo papa bi, Mpontuo soronko: Victor for victory, MP for Abuakwa North 2012” has the NDC logo conspicuously missing from it, a possible admission of defeat in the battle for use of the NDC’s logo.

The NDC’s parliamentary candidate for the Ayawaso West Wuogon constituency, Kingsley Kwame Awuah-Darko, has conspicuously hidden his party’s identity in all his posters and banners from prospective voters, obviously afraid and ashamed of being referred to as the NDC’s parliamentary candidate.

Insiders within the camp of the Ayawaso West Wuogon NDC parliamentary candidate point to their research conducted in the constituency which shows that Mr Awuah-Darko will lose the parliamentary election should he “reveal his identity as the NDC’s candidate”.

This development, according to Mr Awuah-Darko’s campaign team, prompted a rethink of campaign strategy as he did not want his identity as an NDC member “to taint” his candidature.

For the first weeks after launching his campaign, only Mr Awuah-Darko’s picture was seen on plain-white banners in the constituency. This according to his campaign team was to draw the attention of constituents into asking “who is this man?” This campaign lasted for a few weeks.

Checks made by the New Statesman over the weekend has revealed the addition of more banners and posters of Mr Awuah-Darko, this time with his first name “Kwame,” now visibly inscribed on all banners in addition to his picture on a plain white background, with no NDC logo or party colours visible.

“The initial strategy of our PC was to have his face on a plain white banner which is normally suggestive of someone dead. This was to draw the attention and curiosity of constituents into finding out who he is. We have now put his first name on the banners, and people will now draw a liking to him. We can’t risk exposing him as the NDC’s candidate yet,” a source in Mr Awuah-Darko’s campaign told the New Statesman.

According to the source, the identity of Mr Awuah-Darko, vis-a-vis the full disclosure of his party affiliation will be done a few weeks to the December election, by which time the constituents “would have fallen in love with him and will end up voting for him in the election”.