Growing tensions and confusions are gripping the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as foot soldiers and stalwarts, whose efforts brought the party back to power, accuse the leadership of total neglect, Ghanaian RADAR understands.
According to these grassroots members, the NDC government, led by President John Dramani Mahama, has made no effort to satisfy them despite their sacrifices and hard work in the 2024 poll.
The loyal members claim they’ve been marginalised and neglected by government appointees and national executives to the extent that they’re not even picking up phone calls.
Several efforts to get support from government and party officials have been to no avail.
“We have now turned beggars since we are jobless and poor under the current regime. Now President John Dramani Mahama, leadership of the National Executives of the NDC, and all government appointees have made the foot soldiers look like beggars; they go round to beg for money,” they lamented to this reporter.
In light of the above, the grassroots members sent a strong message to the President, National Executives, and appointees, saying, “You were put in power by the grassroots, the real soldiers of this party. But today, many of you have forgotten us. You sit in air-conditioned offices, living large, while those who campaigned day and night are ignored, jobless, and disrespected.”
They went on to warn that if the NDC continues to neglect the grassroots, it will forget about the 2028 poll, and many national executives will lose their seats.
The Vice Chairman of the NDC and Chairman of the Board of Directors of GCB Bank PLC, Professor Joshua Alabi, has cautioned the party’s leadership against neglecting loyal grassroots members. He expressed concern over the neglect of long-standing loyal party members in political appointments, urging the party’s leadership to prioritize committed grassroots activists over opportunistic defectors.
He pointed out that the party’s massive loss in tertiary institution polling stations in the 2020 general elections served as a warning sign. “The NDC massively lost 69 polling stations and won only three in the last 2020 general elections in tertiary institutions,” he revealed. “This is a strong signal to the governing NDC that if the youths who are to take over from us are losing 69 out of 72, then it is a threat to us in the NDC,” he recounted.
Similarly, Presidential Advisor on the 24-Hour Economy and Accelerated Export Development Programmes, Augustus Goosie Tanoh, also issued a strong warning to the NDC leadership not to repeat the mistakes of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
“Accountable Governance” is a mandate not just for Presidential appointees but for the party as a whole, he said. “The state is not to be governed for private gains but for collective upliftment and the conquest of poverty in all its aspects,” Mr. Tanoh advised.
The warnings from Professor Alabi and Mr. Tanoh come as the NDC reflects on its future and seeks to rebuild its grassroots support. The party’s leadership will need to take heed of these cautionary words if it hopes to maintain its relevance and appeal to Ghanaians.
