The National Democratic Congress’ Democratic Platform Initiative has stated that it exists to serve the best interests of the party.
This statement comes on the back of accusations leveled against them after a meeting they organised in Tema on Saturday, April 17, 2021, had no NDC national executive or the party’s flagbearer in the previous polls, John Mahama in attendance.
Many were of the view that the group, made up of some party bigwigs including Dr. Benjamin Kunbuor, Dan Abodakpi and Ebi Bright held the meeting to promote another leading member of the NDC, Goosie Tanoh as the preferred choice for flagbearer ahead of the 2024 elections.
Goosie Tanoh, whose bid to become NDC’s flagbearer for the 2020 polls ended unsuccessfully, was present at the event and was one of the main speakers.
But the group in a statement has clarified what it describes as “misconceptions”.
“Firstly, we did indeed invite party leadership to attend and to address the gathering. We received no response. We will continue to reach out to our leaders and seek their support and participation in our forums.”
“Secondly, no one has used our platform to launch any personal attacks or false accusations. We would not tolerate this. We take a position of collective responsibility for the state of our party today and its future. Those who are reading personal agendas into this are sadly mistaken” it added.
The group explained that the meeting was held to discuss the party’s challenges and the pathway towards reorganisation ahead of the 2024 polls.
“The NDC Democratic Platform Initiative is an ad hoc collaboration intended to create popular platforms for discussion by ordinary NDC members of critical party issues. The party currently offers no such popular platforms. We intend to tap the energy, creativity, and wisdom available from these grassroots engagements and feed them into official party introspection, and lobby for their inclusion in any reorganisation agenda.”
The Democratic Platform Initiative further outlined some highlights of the meeting.
“The Forum confirmed our analysis that our party suffers deeply from a vicious cycle of bureaucratisation. This has disempowered ordinary members and collapsed the branches meant to ensure their substantive political development and capacity to hold leadership accountable.”
“The Forum also affirmed our unshakeable belief that the party can turn the situation around by investing in a planned and sustained re-engagement with branch members around all the fundamental questions that the party faces. Party members desperately want this to happen. They do not want leadership to think for them.”