NDC Recalls Campaign Vehicles

AN ATMOSPHERE of panic and anxiety appear to have set in the rank and file of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), following a directive issued by the top hierarchy of the party, instructing vehicles used for the 2012 general elections to be returned to the headquarters of the party.

It is not clear why such a directive has been issued to all constituency executives and parliamentary candidates to surrender the vehicles at such crucial moment but the decision has left many supporters on the verge of tension.

Reports available to The Chronicle indicate that the National Executive hierarchy last week sent letters to all regional offices instructing them to retrieve all the Mahindra Pick Up trucks used during the campaign for the 2012 general elections from constituency executives and parliamentary candidates.

Though executives of the party have played down attempts to link the decision to the upcoming Supreme Court verdict slated for August 29, some supporters and functionaries of the ruling party in the Ashanti Region appear least convinced by the explanation.

Regional executives have explained that the directive is a normal one issued to party candidates and executives at the end of every election and that the timing was only a coincidence rather than an intentionally planned one.

But some supporters of the party who spoke on anonymity told the paper that they are not happy about the decision because it sends strong signals of uneasiness within the party ahead of the Supreme Court pronouncement.

The supporters are of the view that the party could have waited until the Supreme Court pronounced its judgment before asking the vehicles to be returned.

“As it stands now, one can only interpret the directives as a means of preparing for a worst case scenario and we are not happy about that,” one supporter noted.

They maintain, however, that though they believe in the sanctity of the elections held in December last year, which declared President John Dramani Mahama the winner, such a directive leaves many in doubt, especially at a time that the court is set to decide the fate of the Presidency.

Meanwhile, The Chronicle has learnt that whilst some parliamentary candidates have obeyed the directives by returning the vehicles, others have totally flouted and even sent uncomplimentary responses to their constituency executives.