NDC Has Outgrown The Rawlingses – Kobby Acheampong

Deputy Minister for the Interior, Kobby Acheampong, known for his oftentimes controversial remarks, has categorically stated that the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) has outgrown the founder of the party, Jerry John Rawlings and his family,…

…and also believes that for the NDC to survive, the Rawlingses must be placed on the back burner.

Former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings picked up nomination forms for the presidential primaries of the governing NDC on Tuesday, May 3rd (the day the party officially opened nominations). She will formally launch her campaign on Wednesday, May 3.

Though most political pundits contend the former First Lady stands no chance against the sitting President, some however, believe her decision to contest President Mills is an indictment on his (Mills’) administration.

But speaking on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana programme, the Deputy Interior Minister who was emphatic that the NDC’s obsession with the Rawlingses has waned also added that the significance of the Rawlingses to the NDC is fading out.

“The NDC has outgrown the Rawlingses and that is the simple truth that perhaps they are not realizing. It has outgrown them, people now believe in the party and not the obsession with the Rawlingses. People are moving beyond that, it used to be something significant but now it is fading because people have moved beyond that. People are beginning to see that if we want to build this party and let it survive, it must go beyond the Rawlingses,” he espoused.

An obviously irritated Kobby Acheampong wondered if the NDC will stop functioning should the former President drop dead one day.

“I am not saying it but if tomorrow the former president drops dead, will the NDC stop functioning as a political party? The party will continue to exist, Konadu contesting is a good test but the answer is clear. The campaign will be clean, nobody will insult anybody, there might be tension but at the end of the day, the party will come out stronger,” he added.

According to him, the NDC is a very solid political party that has stood the test of time and survived many attempts at crippling the party albeit in an indirect way, and will definitely survive its present predicament. He maintained that the NDC’s presidential primaries will only deepen internal democracy in the party.