It appears the apparent strong control of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Northern Region by the Minority Leader and Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamale South, Mr. Haruna Iddrisu is becoming stronger.
This is because the Northern Region NDC Council of Elders has endorsed the appointment of Minority Leader’s loyalist, Mr. Ali Adolf, the second vice chairman, as the Acting Northern Regional Chairman by the Functional Executive Committee (FEC) following the death of the party’s regional chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Mobila.
The endorsement has essentially dismissed the protests by the first vice chairman, Alhaji Rufai Vielim and others believed to be John Mahama loyalists against the appointment.
They believed the vice chair should be the acting regional chairman and not the second vice chair as the NDC constitution is apparently silent on who should act in the absence of the chairman.
This followed violent agitations recently, by some youth groups of the party to protest the appointment of the Acting Chairman who was serving as one of the two Regional Vice Chairmen.
The irate youth vandalised the NDC Regional Office in Tamale and locked the place down amidst gunshots.
However, the Council of Elders at news conference last Monday in Tamale stated that, “The Council of Elders unreservedly endorse the decision taken by the Functional Executive Committee in settling on Mr. Ali Adolf (one of the two Regional Vice Chairmen) as the Acting Regional Chairman until the next Regional Party Conference.”
Secretary of the Council, Alhaji Yussif Umar who addressed Journalists further for called on the NDC Youth in particularly to exercise maximum restraint and remain calm whilst they do wider consultations to find lasting solutions to the teething challenges within the part in the region.
Attack on party office
Meanwhile, the NDC elders has unreservedly condemned the attack on the Regional Secretariat stating the council considers the dastardly act as criminal and further called on the law enforcement agencies to treat it as such.
Alhaji Yussif Umar also called on the National Executive Committee to set up a committee to investigate the said attack to enable the appropriate structures of the Party to trigger Article 48 (Party Discipline) of the Party Constitution, to deal with this situation.
He reiterated that anybody found culpable in the heinous attack should not be shielded, and the lawful processes to deal with such persons or group of persons should proceed.
“It is the considered conviction and belief of the Council that the Regional Party Office that was attacked was built out of the contributions of committed and loyal members of the Party as far back as 1999, and continuously being furnished and equipped by dedicated members of the Party over the years. So, for any person or group of persons, (claiming to be Party Faithful) to take such a decision to unleash terror on the Office in this manner is difficult to comprehend. As a result, such behavior is considered “Anti-Party” and highly condemnable” he asserted.
Complaints
The Council has urged disgruntled members of the party to channel their grievances through the Complaints and Appeals Committee provided under Article 49 of the NDC Constitution for redress rather than resorting to needless violence that has the tendency of either dragging the name of the party into disrepute or making the party look unattractive to voters.
“The Council urges that whoever in the Party in the Region is dissatisfied with any decision taken at any level, should use the Complaints and Appeals provisions (Article 49 of the Party Constitution) to seek redress rather than resort to needless violence…
“The Council wishes to use this opportunity to indicate strongly that the attack was the work of a few individuals and does not reflect the general feelings of the rank and file of the Party in the Region” he added.
