Declarations by Johnson Asiedu Nketiah and Samuel Ofosu Ampofo that they would be contesting for the national chairmanship position of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) have sparked a heavy storm in the main opposition party.
Asiedu Nketiah popularly known as General Mosquito recently announced he will be abandoning his 17-year reign as the NDC General Secretary to battle with the incumbent, Ofosu Ampofo for the chairmanship slot.
However, THE CUSTODIAN has gathered, the declaration of General Mosquito, has apparently triggered confusion within the camp of former John President Mahama as to which of the two heavy weights to be trusted with the coveted position ahead of the 2024 general election.
This is because the unrepentant proponents of Mr. Mahama’s presidential bid, the paper learnt, have conflicting views about the credibility and loyalty of the two antagonists towards the inordinate political ambition of the former President.
Whilst some believe Ofosu Ampofo will gladly do the bidding of the former President in the party’s presidential race, other Mahama adherents argue the incumbent national chairman should not be trusted with the position, alleging that he has always been “in bed” with the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and therefore will not help NDC’s agenda.
But the Mahama stalwarts supporting Ofosu Ampofo aver strongly that General Mosquito will not be malleable to the dictates of the former president and this, they insist, could mar the unity at the top echelon of the party, which may invariably affect their fortunes in the crucial general election.
This, THE CUSTODIAN gleaned, has created a dilemma within the Mahama camp, giving some NDC bigwigs sleepless nights on how to handle what political watchers have described as a looming crisis with the party.
Information filtering in across the country also indicates that the rank and file of the NDC are deeply divided over the capability, loyalty and credibility of the two main aspirants for the chairmanship slot.
Reject Asiedu Nketiah & Ofosu Ampofo
Meanwhile, a third contest in the NDC chairmanship race believes the party’s victory in 2024 cannot be achieved under the incumbent Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo and General Secretary Asiedu Nketiah.
According to Samuel Yaw Adusei, he is the new face the NDC needs in the chairmanship seat to win the 2024 elections to “liberate Ghanaians from their sufferings”.
Messrs. Ofosu-Ampofo and Asiedu Nketiah, he argued, played a key role in the defeat of the party in 2016 by a historic margin as well as the 2020 presidential election.
At a news conference on October 6, 2022, Mr. Adusei, a former deputy Ashanti Regional Minister under the John Mahama-led administration believes there is mistrust between Ofosu-Ampofo, and Asiedu Nketiah, hence their decision to contest for the same post.
“Aseidu Nketiah has been the General Secretary for the past 17 years and he worked side by side with Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo in the 2016 elections but does not believe that the current chairman should continue and that’s why he is contesting and the same with Ofosu Ampofo because he doesn’t believe that Aseidu Nketiah whom he has known for years can fill his shoes.
“What these very experienced politicians are doing is to tell the NDC members that they cannot do the job and there is a need for a new face because they have no confidence in each other. They are calling for a change and I am that change because they played vital roles in the 2016 and 2020 elections and we lost.
“The NDC cannot afford to lose the 2024 elections and that is why they need to vote for me as the National Chairman because they cannot win the elections with either Aseidu Nketiah or Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo.
“There is extreme hardship in the country that was created by this government and the NDC should win power in 2024 to save Ghanaians but we can’t do that with either Aseidu Nketiah or Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo as our National Chairman”, Mr. Adusei reiterated.
NDC staging a comeback into government after two consecutive terms in opposition.
Consequently, the party is currently working towards the election of constituency and regional executives in October and November this year.
The process will be climaxed with election of national officers on December 17, 2022.
