Gen Mosquito: NDC Not Spiritual Church

Johnson Aseidu-Nketia THE GENERAL Secretary of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Aseidu-Nketia, has stated that the party is not a spiritual church that should be run like a bonafide property of an individual. In apparent reference to the NDC founder, Jerry John Rawlings, Mr Asiedu-Nketia warned that if the status quo is not changed, the party is likely to suffer the consequence of extinction like spiritual churches which ‘die’ after the demise of their founder. The one-time deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture contended that the NDC should rather be run like an orthodox church which can still stand the test of time no matter who dies. General Mosquito, as he is affectionately called, noted that it was about time the party stopped perceiving some individuals in the party as small gods and instead give equal recognition to all members. He emphasized that this all-important feat can only be achieved when the party is run along the principles of structures and not personalities as it is currently going on. Against this background, General Mosquito opined that if he is re-elected into office, he will not kowtow to the whims and caprices of any individual in the party, notwithstanding the status of the person. “My administration will not be the remote control type, whereby somebody somewhere will have the effrontery to dictate the direction of my work,” he boldly said. The former NDC Member of Parliament (MP) for Wenchi West (Tain) made these striking remarks when he and Dr Kwabena Adjei, the party’s National Chairman, jointly launched their re-election campaign in Kumasi at the Prempeh Assembly Hall on Sunday. Boasting that it was through their ingenuity that the NDC came to power, General Mosquito said posterity will not forgive the party should delegates refuse to renew their mandate as general secretary and national chairman respectively. “I have no doubt that posterity will judge you all if after all our sacrifices that brought the party to office, you will have the guts to reject us and bring people who did not suffer with us on board,” he sorrowfully stated. Though he will not mention names, the former legislator accused some forces within the party of mobilizing resources to oust them from office so that they could hijack the party and carry out their selfish wishes. Those forces, according to him, were distributing money, cloths, rice, cooking oil, roofing sheets and other things to influence delegates to vote in their favour. He urged the delegates to reward loyalty in the party’s upcoming national delegates’ conference slated for Tamale on January 16, 2010 instead of selling their conscience for material gains. He emphasized that he and Dr Kwabena Adjei had every opportunity to use their position and fame to siphon money from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) when it was in government but did not do so because of their love for the party. Still proclaiming their love for the party, General Mosquito disclosed they refused ministerial appointments because they wanted to serve the party. “We could have accepted the offer for ministerial appointments like what others did and enjoy the privilege of driving in flashy Land Cruisers with police protection and other freebies, but rejected them because of you,” he intimated. General Mosquito reiterated his commitment to disengage the 31st December Women’s Movement (DWM) from the NDC and rather replace it with a functional women’s wing. “If the founder of the Movement has severally intimated that her outfit is a Non Governmental Organization (NGO), then I will not be wrong to detach it from the NDC,” he audaciously noted. For his part, Dr Kwabena Adjei pointed out that the NDC was still weak and therefore needed people of their caliber to strengthen the party for the daunting task ahead. One of the factors that have led to the weakening of the party, he stated, is the many loopholes in its constitution that ought to be looked at extensively at the national delegates’ conference. Disclosing that as the congress draws nigh, faceless text messages will start to float around instructing delegates to vote for certain candidates because they have the endorsement of some powers within the power, Dr Adjei asked delegates to disregard some messages when they receive them. From Daily Guide/Morgan Owusu, Kumasi