The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) is wondering why former President John Mahama is leading an “evil” party – the National Democratic Congress (NDC) – into the 2020 general elections when, according to him, the biggest opposition party has declared its disdain for political parties.

The NPP is also wondering why the NDC has claimed victory in Tuesday’s District Assembly elections when the polls were supposed to be non-partisan.

Prior to the local polls, the NDC campaigned for a ‘no’ vote in the referendum to amendment Article 55 (3) of the Constitution to enable political parties to participate in local-level elections.

The NDC’s push for a ‘no’ vote led President Nana Akufo-Addo to cancel the referendum, which was to take place on the same day as the district assembly polls.

After the elections, former President John Mahama, who is the flag bearer of the NDC, noted that the low turnout recorded was an indication that the cancelled referendum would have failed.

According to Mr. Mahama, the stance of the NDC on political party participation in elections at the local level, represented the views of the majority of Ghanaians.

“After what happened yesterday, one could have wondered what the fate of the referendum could have been considering the turnout was very low… Maybe, it was very well-considered to have withdrawn the referendum because, obviously, it would have failed,” Mr Mahama told some executives of the Trade Union Congress (TUC).



Speaking at a press conference in Accra on Thursday, 19 December 2019, however, the Director of Communication of the NPP, Mr Yaw Buaben Asamoa, said: “Two days ago, they were jubilating that they have won an election that they were not supposed to have participated in, and, so, we wonder how they can be jubilating about an election that they’re not supposed to be part of; rather, they were damning political parties.

“They say political parties are violently partisan and not befitting of political activity at the local level. We still do not know whether the former President, now candidate Mahama, lives the rhetoric from his party that political parties are evil and, if, so, why is he leading an evil political party into a general election come 2020?”

Mr Asamoa noted that unlike the NDC, the NPP believes in political parties. “We believe strongly and we’re proud of our political heritage. We’ve contributed a great deal to the emancipation and development of Ghana and Africa and the world as a whole.”