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�We voted for a candidate who promised CHANGE, and we had every conviction that once again our country will benefit from the NDC�s ideals of probity, accountability, freedom and justice, which are the bedrock of a strong nation. �Ladies and gentlemen, the governance that we have experienced since 2009 does not inspire confidence or give Ghanaians any hope for the future. The current leadership has failed to pursue the NDC�s avowed commitment of defending the will of the people and establishing a government that is believed and trusted by the people, a government of humility and sensitivity and a government devoid of arrogance and vindictiveness. �A true-blooded NDC leadership does not buy support, buy votes or buy delegates. This tendency is destroying the spirit and the strength of the NDC.

The future of the NDC is under threat. This is not just about Election 2012. It is about the very survival of the NDC and our nation. As the party stands now, most Ghanaians are convinced beyond reasonable doubt that something dynamic and phenomenal has to happen in the NDC for victory in 2012.� The above quotations come from the speech of Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings when she launched her campaign on May 4, 2011, for the presidential candidacy of the National Democratic Congress. She went on, �Today, I call on all delegates of the party to join hands in this wind of change. Let us listen to the will of our people, to our constituents, who are calling for a real change. Let us take back the heart and soul of the NDC, let us work to uproot the culture of apathy, indiscipline and carelessness that has engulfed this country. Let us infuse dynamism and vitality back into the NDC. There is now a politics of threats, fear and financial influence being imposed on our party. �Let us work to remove the politics of vindictiveness and arrogance that is being introduced to our party and restore hope, trust and respect to our party and the people of Ghana.� The above are not the words and sentiments of opposition politicians. They are the words of the wife of the founder of the ruling NDC party and the longest serving First Lady of Ghana under the (P)NDC. She was not just a First Lady; she was the power behind her husband�s power. But the odds are tilted heavily against her. The Mills camp is predicting a huge victory. In fact, the President has arrogantly predicted for himself a landslide victory. His political aide, Nii Lnatey Vanderpuye, expects not less than 90% of delegates endorsing President Mills. They know very well that anything short of 85% would be difficult to defend. In fact, there are likely to be calls for President Mills to give up the re-election ghost if Mrs. Rawlings manages to secure more than 20% of Saturday�s votes. In December 2006, his main challenger, Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, polled only 146 votes, representing 8.7%. President Mills walked home with a comfortable 81.5% of the votes, 1,362 votes. But there is a major difference between then and now. Then he was a twice tested and failed presidential candidate seeking a third chance. This time he is the President, stuck in the middle of his promise to deliver a better Ghana. More favourable for him is the influence of his presidential patronage over the majority of delegates. My checks estimate that some 75% of the Sunyani delegates have received one form of political appointment or another from the President, either directly or otherwise. All the District Chief Executives and Municipal/Metropolitan Executives were appointed by him. There are 170 districts in Ghana; at least 160 of such mayors are expected to vote. Then there are the over 80 Ministers. Then there are the parliamentary backbenchers; at least half of them are members of a board, a committee or an organization. Then there are the regional executives who are either contractors or heading various regional state organizations. Below them is that big group of constituency executives. Just a cursory check in 5 constituencies in the Eastern, Northern and Upper East regions indicated that 70% of the executives were, for example, as District NYEP coordinators, NADMO coordinators, head of the NHIS district mutual scheme, etc. The NDC has committed the seemingly convenient mistake the NPP did in 2008 by keeping the electoral college small and allowing only a small group of the upper echelon of the local party to enjoy the goodies of presidential primaries. While all these motorbikes, mobile phones, cash and other incentives are being passed on to the delegates, the polling station executives, the foot-soldiers, the people who eventually will be relied on to do the door-to-door campaign, are being ignored. They have no vote to buy. Mills should be minded by the words of the founder of the party, former President Rawlings, who has predicted defeat for his party in the 2012 general elections if the delegates to the July congress should make the mistake of electing incumbent President Mills as the party�s presidential candidate. Rawlings said, �You may win [the presidential nomination] but you will go and lose the national election. Let us wake up to the reality on the ground. This reality is on the ground and anybody knows it. If any elections were conducted today, we all know our fate. Let�s stop being selfish and do what we must do. I am not saying it out of spite because I had supported my friend when all the people around him deserted him.� In the view of the NDC founder, President Mills and his functionaries have become so �intoxicated� that they have completely lost touch with the grassroots of the party, as well as the realities on the ground. �Let�s not allow ourselves to make this mistake again. It may be painful, nervous and jittery but that is the only medicine we have to take. Let�s wake up to the reality. The truth is staring at us in the face but some of our comrades up there seem to be so intoxicated and have lost touch with the reality on the ground,� he cautioned the delegates. For now, it is a truth most inconvenient to the GAME plan, and in the words of Mrs. Rawlings, the �governance that we have experienced since 2009 does not inspire confidence or give Ghanaians any hope for the future�. I wish the NDC a free, fair, transparent and peaceful presidential primary. Let them put up a good show in Sunyani and let us see the President returning quickly to the task of delivering on his hitherto faltering better Ghana agenda. That is what matters.