former NDC Central Regional Chairman, Bernard Allotey Jacobs
There is tension brewing in the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) following attempts by loyalists of the party’s 2020 flagbearer, former President John Dramani Mahama, to get loyalists of his predecessor out of the party.
The recent suspension of people perceived to be ‘Mills Boys’, such as the former NDC Deputy General Secretary, Koku Anyidoho, and former NDC Central Regional Chairman, Bernard Allotey Jacobs, seems to be fuelling this suspicion.
The recent unprovoked attacks on the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Kingsford Bagbin, and leaders of the Minority in Parliament by the party’s National Communications Officer, Sammy Gyamfi, has also led many in the party worried about the future of the opposition party.
This week, the party’s Council of Elders held a crunch meeting with the Parliamentary leadership of the party and the National Executive Committee to seek to tackle the tension within the party.
Not giving up
Meanwhile, the Mills’ loyalists who are unhappy with the recent happenings in the party have descended on the party’s leadership, especially the National Chairman, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, for his refusal to take over the leadership of the party and see to it that “the right thing is being done”.
They have questioned why Mr Mahama is still parading himself as the leader of the party against the party’s own constitution. According to them, the refusal of Mr Ofosu Ampofo to take his rightful role is the reason why things are falling apart in the party.
The party’s former Central Regional Chairman, who says he has dismissed himself from the party, because of the ongoing power play, has described the national chairman as someone who is behaving like a ‘toddler’ and is unable to take firm decisions.
He said Mr Ofosu Ampofo is being haunted by his own selfish ambition, hence his inability to take firm decisions. “Ofosu Ampofo behaves like a toddler; he thinks we don’t know that he is nurturing an ambition to become the flagbearer of the party,” he posted on his Facebook wall.
Koku Anyidoho has also described Mr Ampofo as a ‘coward’. “I am saying that Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, stop sitting down there and talking about Koku Anyidoho and Allotey Jacobs. You are a coward, Ofosu-Ampofo is a coward. If he is a man, he should get up and condemn this nonsense and let’s move on,” Mr Anyidoho fumed.
Response
But Samuel Ofosu Ampofo has asked members of the party to ignore the two since they are no more members of the party.
“As we speak, they have all been suspended from the party. If you wish that we take further actions against them following their action, we will listen. We will go and look at exactly what has to be done to ensure sanity.
“It is not Koku Anyidoho who will teach us what the NDC’s constitution says. We have a constitution and we know what the constitution says,” Ofosu Ampofo said.
Meanwhile, in the Daboya-Mankarigu constituency, the constituency chairman of the party and ten other branch executives are in a tussle with other executives over their future in the party.
The situation, according to media report, has created deep cracks within the party in the constituency.
Ofosu Ampofo tape saga
In a related development, the third prosecution witness testifying in the ongoing Ofosu Ampofo tape case before an Accra high court has told the court that the said meeting in which the tape recording was obtained was believed to have been held at the party’s headquarters.
Bernard Berko told the court during cross-examination yesterday that investigations showed the meeting took place at the national headquarters of the NDC at Adabraka in Accra. This was after the defence counsel had sought to know whether he was able to establish through his investigation the location of the said meeting.
Tony Lithur, lead counsel for Mr Ofosu-Ampofo, questioned Mr Berko during cross examination on the purpose of the meeting, the person who recorded proceedings at the meeting, and whether the attendees consented to be recorded.
Mr Berko however informed the court that he has no idea about who did the recording, except that his investigation had confirmed where the tape was recorded.
Source: dailystatesman.com.gh
