Race for the Three Vital Seats Begins
At a time when the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is turning every blade of grass in the Wulensi constituency to win the March 4 by-election, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is grappling with how to raise funds for their war chest.
The main opposition party actually seems more interested in cutting government policies and programmes into shreds through verbal attacks and diagnosing the President's State of the Nation Address as anodyne, full of failed promises.
On Sunday when Chronicle checked, the national women's organiser, Francess Asiam, was billed to ride to Wulensi on Wednesday, that is tomorrow, and the general secretary, Dr. Josiah Aryeh, on Thursday. "Nobody has gone there yet," Aryeh himself confessed.
Insiders blamed the delay in training the NDC campaign artillery on Wulensi on the fact that "the party is broke." A budget statement sighted by this paper showed that the NDC required ?365 million out of which they had managed to squeeze only ?35 million or about 10% from stones, figuratively speaking.
At the same time that the NDC leaders granted us an interview, the Spacefon number for Dan Botwe, general secretary of the ruling NPP, failed to connect us to him when we called: Dan was said to be busy at Wulensi, having left his mobile behind. The national organiser, Lord Commey, other national executives and at least 100 regional, constituency executives and functionaries had also camped at Wulensi.
"This is, for us, a national assignment; not a district assembly election to be joked with," a press officer left in charge of the skeleton staff kept at the NPP head office said while answering Chronicle queries on Monday afternoon.
Asked to confirm or deny rumours that the NPP had sent bicycles up north to distribute to the Wulensi electorate, the respondent virtually confirmed-defending it on the premise that every election time, all parties send bicycles up north to distribute among the people there who badly need the contrivance to improve their mobility.
But apart from the freebies allegedly being distributed by the ruling party, it has the advantages of incumbency to exploit. Party head office sources said the road constructions, hospital buildings and the sinking of wells that have started at Wulensi in particular, and the north in general, are being used in a campaign message.
"Even after you voted against us we started helping you; can you imagine the impetus you will give us if you vote for us this time?" This is the question said to be often asked the Wulensi electorate.
Asked what the main campaign message is, the press officer replied, "We are asking them to vote for us because we are development-oriented," noting that, all that rural people care for is development and the NPP is out to convince them it has the key to development.
The NDC charge that, apart from bicycles the government party has transported corn mills and textiles to Wulensi to bribe the over 20,000 potential voters for the Elephant candidate, Wumbei Karimnu.
The Wulensi by-election, one of the three currently on the list of the Electoral Commission, became necessary when Samuel Nyimakan, who had won on the NDC ticket in the December 7, 2000 election, was disqualified from sitting in Parliament.
This followed a legal suit filed by a member of the NPP charging that Nyimakan had falsely claimed to be residing at Wulensi, when he filed his nomination to contest two years ago. That was interpreted by the courts to be an infraction of the electoral laws.
In spite of the financial incapacity of his party to retain the seat, Josiah Aryeh maintains that the NDC will return a man in the NDC colours to Parliament. "I find it as a challenge that I should rise up to because politics is not only about money; money counts but sometimes, it depends. The problem for us is the distance," he said.
