The founder and leader of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Jerry John Rawlings deliberately took actions that he knew would lead to the defeat of the party in the 2016 elections, an active member of the party has disclosed.
Afrifa Yamoah Ponkoh speaking on Adom FM’s Morning Show, ‘Dwaso Nsem’ Tuesday said the founder should be the first person to be blamed if the party is seeking to find scape goats for their defeat.
The NDC suffered a humiliating defeat in the 2016 elections polling only 44.4% of valid votes cast as against the NPP’s 53.8% in the presidential elections.
Former President John Mahama who was the party’s candidate for the polls was seeking his second term in office but was denied through the painful defeat.
The party subsequently set up a 13-member committee to probe its defeat in the 2016 election. The committee presented its findings to the National Executive Council (NEC) yesterday at the party’s headquarters.
As part of its recommendations, the committee has asked the party to take a holistic look at the party’s biometric electoral register.
The 55-paged report, titled, ‘listening to the grassroot’, said the NDC must take urgent steps to restore the integrity of the register.
The failure of the report to name and shame persons whose action and inactions contributed significantly to the defeat of the party, Yamoah Ponkoh said was not the best.
“People were given a whole lot of responsibilities so they had to have been told to account for the specific assignments of helping Mahama…the fact is that the people given specific assignments failed to perform and the report should have indicted those who were given specific assignments but failed to perform…,” he said further.
One of such persons, he said is former President Jerry John Rawlings who despite being the founder of the party refused to openly back the party but deliberately chose to do acts and say things that portrayed the main opposition party candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo as a better candidate for the polls.
“I don’t understand why the report was silent on Rawlings, he did not help the cause of the NDC in 2016 elections…the fact that your wife and children fail to give you utmost respect in the house does not warrant you as a father going to support an enemy against your family…and that is what Rawlings did,” he lamented.
The NDC, he said could have done better but for the ‘deliberate sabotage of the highest order’ by their founder.
Source: adomonline.com