“...Time for NDC electorates to hear us clearly and frankly instead of...”


Electoral events of December 2008 are worth remembering by all supporters of the present ruling NDC government. Following the runoff of the 28th December our great party led by Prof John Atta Mills (NDC) won by a whisker of 50.23 % whilst his opponent Akufo Addo (NPP) obtained 49.77 % share of the votes. Though a disappointing result that was, in any case NDC was, and remain victorious! However, the present political situation in my view is that unless the NDC government hears the views of the electorates the electorates won’t hear our campaign calls again come year 2012 elections which is just a stone throw. In my opinion, should political commentators wish to be critical about the current state of affairs of the country being led by President Mills; which of course is democratically enriching to a certain degree, then there is a need to present ‘unblinkered’ views which calls for lateral and broad thinking of a range of perspectives. Of course the ability to suggest alternative perspectives that are feasible ought to be the norm in today’s politics. Alternatively, as supporters of the NDC we need to enhance our capabilities both in depth and in breadth in the designed campaign strategy in order to retain our present position as the ruling party. To all ardent believers in the ideals of our great party, we need to caution ourselves and others against complacency as identified in a miniature telephone survey that I recently conducted. A qualitative study was adopted - random sampling participants were drawn from two regions being the Northern and Upper East respectively. Indeed it can be construed that the density of the 2008 general election outcomes within the said regions, influenced my decision to reach out for certain participants who hold very dearly and highly the ideals of the NDC. It is reasonable to think that because of the distance factor between the researcher and the researched participant, a telephone conversation method was instituted as a means of reaching out for the individual participant in the study. Participants have been assured of anonymity which has been adhered to.
The views as shown in this report are worth taking note of by interested colleagues within the NDC generally as it is enshrined by strong expressions held by most of the participants, for example:
A male participant in Walewale spoke passionately in relation to how the founder of the NDC, Ex-President Jerry John Rawlings and his wife were humiliated at Sunyani during the flagbearership contest – he asked, “...you tell me, who is the founder of NDC at all...we have never seen things like this before...why did NDC choose to wash her dirty clothes in public? In-Sha- Allah (God willing), those dirty clothes would not dry for many years to come...you bet me, sir”
A female participant in Walewale spoke hysterically when she said, “... even with his wife Nana Konadu by his side, both of them deserved due respect and loud cheers that could have shook the walls of the hall by all the delegates including President Mills himself instead of the shabby and ‘soddy’ scene that we saw before the voting...I am a woman myself and I would hate to be treated the way Nana and her husband were treated. It smells more than my knickers...am sorry, sorry, but I have to think many times before I cast my vote for NDC next year...”
Another female participant (a teacher) in Tamale said, “ever since Mills took power from NPP, what has he done for those men and women who worked very hard to get him that power? My husband and his brothers worked and worked very hard for NDC but NDC has forgotten us completely. I can’t tell you where they stand now...I can’t say what is next. Tell your people for us that, we are unhappy with NDC...the promises he made about the Dagomba issue is yet to surface...Mills and his Vice are all blinking cheats”

A male tailor in Yendi (NDC foot soldier), spoke very angrily and said, “I shall be no fool next time...I worked hard for Haruna Iddrisu and his party NDC. Even the naming of my brother’s son, he was here in Tamale but he never turned up, I sent him ‘gulli’ (cola nuts) yet he never came, he never even sent us a message apologising. We are angry with him. The whole family voted for NDC. We voted for him not because he is Haruna but because of his late father whom we respected very highly in Tamale...mmmmm”

A female participant (Businesswoman) in Bolgatanga expressed her feelings bitterly towards President Mills and his Ministerial, Municipal and District Secretaries appointees. She said, just look at some of his appointees-you know what, they are all taking bribes left and right and building mansions all over the place! Some of these Ministers mistakenly allow distinction between personal interest and government activities to become blurred...and he doesn’t care...we those who worked our ‘butts’ out during the 2008 campaign are angry, we are angry...some of us have jumped the boat already... em, you know Sekou Nkrumah... he is gone”
A Medical Doctor from Nalerigu expressed his disgust about some of the delegates’ behaviour towards Rawlings and his wife Konadu during the Sunyani flagbearership contest. In an attempt to speak up his phone handset dropped - phone bang!...phone reconnected with apologies followed by a sigh of relief by the participant; he composed himself and said, “...you know what, I felt like sticking my head in the mud when I saw how Jerry and his Mrs were heckled and hooted at. What annoys me is that; we had our NDC Gurus there, why didn’t they intervene to stop that stink? “...Even Thabo Mbeki was not treated like that in South Africa when he lost the contest to President Jacob Zumah! I tell you what, we are yet to know who the founder is and who the leader of NDC is, he quivered”
Speaking to another male participant from Savelugu he said, “Some of Mills’s ministers and the rest are corrupt to the teeth, they are just no good I tell you...I don’t know what will persuade me and my family to vote for NDC next time for they are far from our reach now... those who campaigned and voted for NPP are rather ruling us here...very bad”
A female participant in Bawku said; “Mills has not given my brother-in-law anything at all since after the election. He moved from house to house, village to village campaigning for NDC with his life at stake that time. I was always trembling day-in-day-out anytime time that he went out to campaign. Some areas are called Katanga, so there is fear in Bawku. Many people are expecting something from him; you know...you know Bawku is like Iraq today. All we pray for here is peace, In-Sha-Allah (God willing)! But In-Sha-Allah (God willing) one can now travel out to do selling and buying...In-Sha-Allah (God willing)! We thank Mills for that but next election it is not going to be easy for the NDC here in Bawku...you know how Bawku people are, here and there...”
The huge data collected for this study cannot be contained on this occasion in this report. As a member of the ruling NDC party I the study, intrinsically satisfying for me but constitutes a warning to party members nationally that, all is not well out there! The reflective responsive nature by most of the participants as identified in this study is intriguing. However, the explosive nature of contemporary Ghanaian voter system should not be taken for granted for one year is not far in politics!

By Asigri Daniel Zanyeya (EdD)
Health Care Researcher
London