Ahead of Battle 2008

THE DEPUTY General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. Baba Jamal, has observed once again that the NDC would not allow itself to be cheated once again in the 2008 general elections.

Addressing teeming supporters of the party, he said, "I want to assure you that this time round, the NDC would not allow any party to cheat us again.

"We want everybody to know that and stand firm to ensure that justice is done at all levels because 2008 is for us."

Baba Jamal, who took a swipe at the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for professing to have the men to work but not demonstrating it, made this declaration last week during the official launch of the flagbearership bid of Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah.

"The NDC is the party that can rule the nation because we have the men," he contended. "We are not like others who claim to have the men but could not deliver. It is said that the empty barrel makes the most noise. The party that has the men is the NDC," he intoned, pointing out representatives at the programme as worthy to lead the nation.

Teasing the NPP, he noted that it was unfortunate that when the rule of law - which the incumbent administration talks about - hits them, the party turns round to say they have been practical.

According to Baba Jamal, as far as the current image-denting circumstances of the nation as well as the recent cocaine menace were concerned, the NDC is better placed to redeem the nation from the its doldrums.

Turning his focus on the NDC, he pledged that the party would provide a common platform for all the potential aspirants to explain to the party executives what they would do given the opportunity to lead the party.

To him, Dr. Spio-Garbrah's declaration of presidential bid last Thursday marked the beginning of a long journey where he would go through the mills at the congress.

"I am happy to say that all the aspirants of the NDC are equally capable to beat any of the 16 aspirants from the other political divide," he reassured. "I am also glad about the civil manner so far of Dr. Spio-Grabrah's campaign," he said.

According to the NDC deputy chief scribe, last Thursday's event was to showcase what the party could do and to assure all the potential aspirants that the executives of the party would play fairly for every candidate.

"I want to assure all of the aspirants that the party would ensure an even playing field for all of them; the party would organize a common platform for them to showcase their potentials," adding that the NDC was a government-in-waiting to rescue the nation from its recent woes.

Baba Jamal, who stated that he was delegated by his immediate boss, Mr. Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, to represent the party, extolled the virtues of Dr. Spio-Garbrah and noted that with personalities of his caliber with a lot of integrity to lead the nation, just like others within the NDC, the party had already chalked success in the 2008 general elections.

One Mr. Gideon Quarcoo, a member of the Diasporan Group who accompanied Spio-Garbrah, said there was the need to have a new kind of leadership to restore the image of the nation.

According to him, it was untenable that Ghana had been hit with scandal after scandal, coupled with the unending cocaine palaver.

Mr. Quarcoo noted that whether the mechanism of implementing the Representative of Peoples Amendment Law was put in place or not, Diasporans would come back to Ghana to cast their votes.

He expressed regret about the recent developments in the nation, saying they had been watching some of them unfold in dismay.

On his part, the former national chairman of the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP), Dan Markin, commended the leadership of the NDC for opening the floodgates for others to contest for the flagbearership of the party.

He said if the masses were not made to understand the dynamics of governing the nation, then Ghana's future would look very bleak.

Mr. Markin, now a Minister of the Gospel, bemoaned the status of the nation, arguing that the nation should not be going through tough times considering the fact that it could produce endowed personalities like Mr. Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General, Dr. Spio-Grabrah, Chief Executive Officer of Commonwealth Telecommunication Organization (CTO) and Mr. Ibn Chambas, Executive Secretary of ECOWAS.

He said with the natural resources of the nation, he did not believe the citizens of the Ghana should be poor, let alone the nation herself.

Dan Markins, who spoke for less than ten minutes and then left the podium to attend a crusade, asked the electorate to demand tangible vision from persons who want to lead the nation.