The National Democratic Congress (NDC), national and regional executive election scheduled for this month, ahead of an even keener national presidential elections in 2016, is in limbo.
The party is being compelled to reschedule its election calendar to elect regional and national officers due to numerous court actions facing some constituency branches of the party, particularly in the Greater Accra Region.
A member of the party, Mr Linus Njonolah also secured an injunction at a Kumasi High Court last month to stop all internal elections.
He is questioning the legitimacy of the current executive members and their locus to organise the national congress. He claimed the national executive members of the party have overstayed their welcome.
The party is expected to go to congress this month to elect new officers who will steer its affairs for the next four years.
Legal tussle
Even as aspirants, vying for regional and national executive positions, campaign in earnest, the party has a legal tussle to overcome.
At the Kumasi High Court last Friday, the capacity of the lawyer representing the NDC, Mr Samuel Cudjoe, was also challenged by Mr Felix Datsomor, the counsel for Mr Njolojah.
The counsel for the plaintiff raised issues with the absence of Cudjoe�s licence number on documents he filed with the court.
The trial judge, who was not enthused about the back and forth from the two lawyers representing the same family, advised them to put their house in order and show leadership as a ruling party.
Election calendar
However, the party�s Deputy General Secretary in charge of operations, Mr George Lawson, speaking to the Daily Graphic in an interview, conceded that� If the court cases are not dealt with on time and drag for a long time, it will delay the party�s regional conferences and the national delegates congress.�
�The party is really in limbo now; At the moment, the NDC election timetable is off gear, even though we have settled a lot of court issues; What is left is the injunction placed before the Kumasi High Court,� he admitted.
It will be recalled that a number of constituencies, particularly those in the Greater Accra Region, are also praying the courts to declare elections conducted there null and void and re-run them because of malpractices, while others wanted the re-instatement of some delegates who were disqualified.
Some of the affected constituencies in the Greater Accra Region are Ningo Prampram, Tema Central, Ablekuma Central, Ablekuma South, Ayawaso Central, La Dade Kotopon, Korle Klottey and Odododiodoo
Mr Lawson, however, pointed out that apart from the Greater Accra Region where issues had been raised regarding the constituency conferences, other parts of the country had almost completed their constituency conferences.
He ,therefore, encouraged NDC aggrieved members to seek redress before embarking on court actions.
The deputy general secretary said party members must rather endeavour to exhaust the channel for seeking redress before resorting to the law courts, stressing the wisdom in seeking Alternative Dispute Resolution which was less time consuming.
In order not to put the whole process leading to the national congress on hold, Mr Lawson said, � all efforts must be made to resolve the issues raised by the various constituencies out of court immediately.�
Despite hitches
Despite the hitches, Mr Lawson told the paper that things were going quiet well.
�We are not wielding machete and fighting as it is happening in some other opposition party. It is a plus to our democracy,� he asserted.
�Again, people should be patient. They should sit down and jaw jaw and not run to court. When petitions are quickly looked into, people will not go to the law court,� he further stated.
Meanwhile, the Kumasi High Court Judge, Justice Jacob Bonoo, has adjourned the case against the NDC to October 14, 2014 but reiterated his call on the parties involved to strive to settle the matter out of court.
He advised that since the matter was a family issue, it would serve the interest of both parties if it was settled amicably out of court, explaining that irrespective of which way the judgement would go, it would not engender unity in the party.
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