<<Print>>

The ruling National Democratic Congress is said to be at its wits end, struggling to come out with the kind of strategy it would put in place to prosecute its desperate plan to remain in power, following the serious threat posed by the breakaway National Democratic Party. The NDP at the weekend held its maiden delegates congress at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi, where former first lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, was endorsed as the party�s Presidential Candidate for the December polls. The well-attended congress was attended by NDC founder, former President Rawlings, who was the Special Guest of Honour. The massive crowd at the congress was enough indication that former President Rawlings still commands a chunk of the grassroots members of the ruling NDC. The massive attendance at the congress is said to have been a great source of worry to President John Dramani Mahama and the NDC leadership, who fear the power of the real foot soldiers and disgruntled members of the NDC, who are now gravitating towards the NDP, has the potential of sending the party back into opposition. Addressing the congress, former President Rawlings gave the strongest indication of an agenda to take over the NDC, together with the party�s foot soldiers, after the December polls, stressing that a �proper revolution� would rock the party after the elections. Mr Rawlings further revealed that he owes a stronger allegiance to the NDP than to the NDC due to the latter�s loss of what he called the "moral high ground.� According to Mr Rawlings, the revolution that is expected to hit the NDC would lead to a house cleansing of the party he founded out of his own toil. He predicted that majority of the NDC parliamentary candidates would lose their bid to return to Parliament, explaining that most of the candidates the NDC is fielding for the December parliamentary election �bribed� their way through the party�s primaries, and are therefore not true representations of the electorate. The former president repeated his allegations of corruption against the John Mahama-led NDC government, which now appears to have no other strategy for the upcoming elections expect the strategy to use money to �buy� people and votes. The campaign of President John Mahama is said to be driven by monetary inducement of influential people to get them to influence the people they command. Before the weekend�s NDP congress, the interim Secretary General, Mamboa Rockson, was allegedly influenced with monetary inducement to resign. The resignation of Dr Mamboa, who was said to have been promised a sum of GHC100, 000.00, had been anticipated to scuttle the NDP�s weekend congress. Sources close to the NDC indicate that because the resignation could not make the needed impact, Dr Mamboa is not likely to get the money allegedly promised him. Information available to the New Statesman indicates that the weekend also witnessed a serious effort to �buy� some journalists and chiefs, as well as members of the NDP and FONKAR in the North. The move was said to have been spearheaded by a top executive of the People�s National Convention.