We'll deal with Janet Nabla to restore sanity in our part – PNC assure supporters

The People’s National Convention (PNC) has assured its supporters that it is committed to resolving the impasses with suspended General Secretary Ms. Janet Nabla.

There has been a feud between the top hierarchy of the opposition party and Ms. Janet Nabla after the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party over the weekend unanimously agreed to strip her of her position indefinitely.

The decision was taken after NEC considered a petition from members of the party that accused the suspended General Secretary on misconduct, insubordination and incompetence.

Amid what has led to an impasse between the party and Ms. Janet Nabla, the PNC at a press conference in Accra on Thursday has admitted that it is in troubling times.

“…it is quite a difficult time for the PNC as a political party. We are worried about the concerns and frustrations of our supporters and sympathizers across the country over the latest upheaval in the party,” PNC National Communications Secretary, Awudu Ishaq told journalist at the press conference.

According to him, the party supporters should remain calm as the leadership of the party take step to reach a resolution of the whole matter.

“…leadership wishes to assure them that the current impasse will be dealt with to restore sanity in the party. The decision to suspend the General Secretary was taken in the best and supreme interest of the party. It is the expectation of the National Executive Committee that asking Ms. Janet Nabla to step aside will afford leadership a clear sense of focus and peace of mind to discharge its mandate of steadying the PNC and positioning it better to fulfil the aspirations of all our supporters,” Awudu Ishaq added.

Read full statement below:

PRESS CONFERENCE BY THE PNC ON THE SUSPENSION OF THE GENERAL SECRETARY MS JANET NABLA

OVER GROSS MISCONDUCT, INSUBORDINATION AND INCOMPETENCE ADDRESSED BY AWUDU ISHAQ,

THE NATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS SECRETARY ON WEDNESDAY, 1^ST SEPTEMBER, 2021 AT THE PARTY

HEADQUARTERS, ABAVANA-ACCRA

Ladies and Gentlemen of the press, good morning and welcome to the PNC Headquarters. It is a huge pleasure to have you here in your numbers for today’s press encounter. The party has been inundated with calls and invitations since last Saturday the 28^th of August 2021 in relation to the decision by the National Executive Committee to suspend indefinitely, Ms Janet Nabla from her position as the General Secretary of the PNC.

As a result, we deem it appropriate and opportune to engage you through this press conference to have all your questions answered and the decision explained to the good people of Ghana especially our unwavering supporters and sympathizers who have always stood by the PNC working tirelessly and hoping fervently that the party will offer the much needed alternative badly craved for by our dear nation, Ghana.

Our friends from the media, on the 28^th of August, 2021, the National Executive Committee of the PNC met at the GNAT Hall in Accra in the discharge of its mandate in accordance with Article 45 of the Party’s constitution. And among other issues, NEC had to consider the report of the Disciplinary Committee of the party which bordered on a petition against the then General Secretary on grounds of gross misconduct, insubordination and incompetence. This petition was jointly signed by eleven out of the fifteen national executives of the party. It had become necessary and imperative to take this action because Ms Janet Nabla had sworn on several occasions not to commit to working with the other executives of the party despite several attempts by leadership to prevail upon her to see the need to foster a harmonious and a cordial working relationship in the interest of the party.

The petition contained twelve different instances at which the former General Secretary exhibited misconduct, insubordination or incompetence as far as her position is concerned. May I create your indulgence to walk you through portions of the petition before we proceed.

1. After the Party’s Congress, in a bid to file the Presidential Candidate, all regions were asked to submit particulars of nominees, two registered eligible persons from each district. In the process all regions submitted the said information except Western North. The executives of this region, who were imposed there solely by the General Secretary who was then the National Women’s Organizer, did not submit the information. At the last moment, it was the Western Regional Chairman who volunteered and travelled to Western North to get the said information which enabled the Party to file the Presidential Candidate. Later it was revealed that the General Secretary who had solely put in place the said Executives instructed them not to submit the needed information so as to sabotage the process.

In November 2020 when the Party Manifesto was to be launched, the General Secretary once again called a number of regions and instructed the Chairmen not to come to the function so as to yet again sabotage this all-important function.

In November 2020, in the company of the running mate who was in Tamale to debate other running mates at UDS, the General Secretary on the blindside of other members of the PNC delegation called all the Parliamentary candidates in and around the Northern Region to a supposed lunch meeting and urged them to call a Press Conference to denounce the flag bearer. However, the Parliamentary Candidates ignored her with the contempt that she deserved. How could a General Secretary of a party harbor such plans against the party she is supposed to work for?

At a NEC meeting on 27^th February, 2021 the General Secretary refused to take down minutes and walked out of the said meeting whilst the meeting was still in process without any permission or assigning any reason. A clear and manifest act of disrespect and indiscipline, flouting the constitution of the Party’s Constitution. How can someone who ceases every opportunity to call herself the Chief Executive Officer of the party exhibit such high level of dereliction of duty especially at such an occasion?

On the 31^st of March, 2021 the General Secretary, Ms. Janet Nabla took delivery of a cheque of Thirty-Thousand Ghana Cedis (GHC30,000.00) belonging to the Party in lieu of a refund from the Electoral Commission and decided rather surprisingly to deposit the said cheque into the Northern Regional Party Account instead of the Headquarters Account. The said cheque was subsequently cleared by the Northern Regional Chairman and Secretary and given back to Janet Nabla, who disbursed the said amount without recourse to the Party Leader and Chairman, contrary to Article (54) of the Party’s Constitution. An act which also amounts to misappropriation and not only that for it has become known that one can divert a cheque meant for the National Headquarters to Regional Party Account and from Regional Party Account to Constituency Party Account.

Following this act of misappropriation when the Leader and Chairman attempted to trace the said cheque, she went to Citi FM’s Point Blank segment, a programme of the said FM Station and accused the Leader and Chairman of stealing 1.7 Million Ghana Cedis belonging to the Party. Meanwhile the financial account of all donations to the Party was rendered at the 27^th February, 2021 NEC meeting which the General Secretary did not object to. This conduct was calculated to tarnish the hard-earned integrity of the Leader and Chairman and thereby compromise their ability to raise funds to support the party’s activities.

On the 16^th of April, 2021, the General Secretary, Ms. Janet Nabla intercepted over fifty (50) bags of rice from a donor meant for muslim party members fasting in the month of Ramadan. After having taken delivery of the said rice, Ms. Janet Nabla refused to hand over same to the Party against leadership request and up to date no one knows how the said bags of rice were distributed.

On 7^th July, 2021 it emerged that the General Secretary, Ms. Janet Nabla had unilaterally set up a committee to commence activities towards the celebration of a 29^th Anniversary of our Party contrary to Leadership’s, (a collective National Executive’s) decision to postpone the said celebration to the year 2022 in order to allow the Party use the year 2021 to raise funds towards the payment of rents of regional and constituency Party offices. It should be emphasized that any celebration proper including official observance of Policies, Programmes, Anniversaries or Congresses of our great Party must be sanctioned, planned and executed by NEC. Anything contrary to this procedure is a gross violation of Internal Party Process, procedure and precedents and Article 44(a) and 45 of our Party Constitution. This is in contravention of Article 54(3). On the 11^th July 2021, it emerged that Ms. Janet Nabla had used the name of the Party to surreptitiously secure funds towards the supposed anniversary celebration thereby denying the Party the needed funding for Party Office as these are very peculiar sources of funding for any other Party activity.

The General Secretary Ms. Janet Nabla is on record to have issued statements on key national issues without recourse to the Leadership of the Party claiming she is the Chief Spokesperson of the Party contrary to Article (49) of the Party’s Constitution thereby causing the entire membership of the party serious embarrassment. Examples of such statements are;

Upon the demise of Rawlings, Ms. Janet Nabla suspended our Political Campaign, eulogizing Ex-President Rawlings as a great democrat without consulting the campaign entourage of the Presidential Candidate which was in the Upper East Region at the time

She unilaterally issued a statement on the controversial issue of the proposed payment of spouses of the President and Vice President and claimed it is the Party’s position.

She issued a statement on Workers’ (May) Day saying the Party would reduce retirement age to 50 years at a time that the party is committed to creating employment opportunities for the majority of the populace and making maximum use of its human resource; a great embarrassment to the Party.

10. On 16^th August, 2021, Ms Janet Nabla wrote a letter to the Electoral Commission under her signature as well as those of some other Regional Chairmen to the effect that some nine National Executives were not elected through due process as their election contravened the party constitution and as such they should cease holding themselves as such. She did this without recourse to leadership or other organs of the party. This was meant to stifle the functioning of the affected officers and thereby hampering the activities of the party. Moreover, it has been established that she had lied about the signatories to that letter which amounts to impersonation and perjury. This singular act of hers made mockery of the PNC as an alternative to the political duopoly in Ghana. It is not for nothing that the Party has a Legal Committee comprising some of the best legal brains that Ghana can boast of. As such, any envisaged breaches of the party’s constitution should have been referred to the Legal Committee for professional legal advice

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen of the press, this petition was lodged with the Disciplinary Committee of the party for consideration and action in accordance with due process. Following from this, the Disciplinary Committee met and invited the petitioners as well as the respondent to appear on different days and at different times of the day to answer to the petition. Whereas all eleven petitioners honoured the Disciplinary Committee invitations, the Respondent (Ms Janet Nabla) blatantly refused to honour the invitation citing potential bias and witch-hunting on the part of some members of the Disciplinary Committee despite several pleas and assurances by the Chairman and Secretary of the Committee that they were committed to doing an impartial job. After she failed to dignify the Disciplinary Committee in spite of so many attempts by the Committee to give her a hearing, the Committee put together its findings and recommendations in a report and submitted same to the National Executive Committee.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the report of the Disciplinary Committee recommended that the former General Secretary Ms Janet Nabla should be suspended indefinitely considering the gravity of the issues raised against her and her subsequent decision to snub, disrespect and disregard an eminent committee such as the Disciplinary Committee. As such, the National Executive Committee unanimously adopted the report as it was presented to it by the Disciplinary Committee by giving Ms Janet Nabla an indefinite suspension.

Having dissected the issues leading to the suspension of Ms Janet Nabla, it is important for us to address the so many lies that she has been spewing all over the media in her state of denial that she has not been suspended.

1. That NEC did not form a quorum at the meeting that she was suspended; it is amazing that our dear Comrade Janet Nabla is ranting all over about the status or legality of the National Executive Committee that adopted the report to have her suspended. The national executive committee on the 28^th of August, 2021 was properly composed as more than one-third of all NEC members were in attendance including the National

Chairman and Leader of the Party. The constitutional provision under Article 45 of the PNC constitution was duly met and as such all decisions taken at that meeting including the indefinite suspension of Ms Janet Nabla are valid and binding.

That she is being witch-hunted because of party finances; this claim is as outrageous as it is laughable. How can a hyena be tasked with the responsibility of protecting a flock of sheep? Is she not the one who diverted a party cheque of Thirty Thousand Ghana Cedis meant for the Party Headquarters into a Regional Party Account and subsequently misappropriated and pilfered a chunk of the money under the cloak of giving it to the regions to acquire offices when she knew that the money could not serve the purpose of offices considering the number of regions and the amount she was giving to each region? As we address you now, all the sixteen regional secretariats of the party have asked for the Headquarters to pay for their regional offices raising questions about she actually used the Thirty Thousand Cedis for since she claimed that she had used it to pay for the office rents of the regions. Is she not the one who inflated cost of accommodation and other expenses at the Forest Hotel in Dodowa during the Manifesto Retreat of the party

and insisted on being given the money to go and pay to the hotel when the National Treasurer was available and capable of carrying out that responsibility? Lo and behold, when the National Treasurer asked for the total bill, it was inflated by some seven thousand Ghana cedis. Is that not the point at which she started to fight the rest of the leadership of the party? What moral right does such a person has to lay claim to protecting party finances? If she has forgotten so soon, she ought to be reminded that she was caught on a CCTV camera during the 2012 National Congress of the PNC in Sunyani stashing wads of money into her bra. This was money meant for delegates but she decided to steal it for her selfish interest.

That the Disciplinary Committee was set up to witch-hunt her; Ladies and Gentlemen, the PNC constitution just like that of every other political party provides for Committees to be put together with a clear terms of reference and mandate. One such Committees is the Disciplinary Committee tasked with adjudicating over complaints, grievances and petitions to instil discipline in the party. The current disciplinary committee of the party was composed and approved by the National Executive Committee of the Party at its meeting on 27^th February, 2021 with the General Secretary in attendance. All the members of the Committee were nominated, seconded and finally approved by NEC in the presence and full glare of Ms Janet Nabla. It is therefore unbelievable to hear her make the claim that she has personal problems with some members of the committee and she doubted whether she will be served justice if she appeared before the committee, hence her decision not to honour the invitation to the committee. Since when did she suddenly realize that her personal grudges with members of the committee don’t qualify those people to serve on the committee? Why didn’t she object to the nomination of such people during the NEC meeting at which they were nominated and approved into the committee? We saw that it was a time-buying strategy when she wrote a very late letter to the National Executive Committee when the disciplinary committee was at the verge of finalizing its report on the petition against her in order to frustrate the work of the

Disciplinary Committee and by extension the leadership. Since there are other appellate organs in the party, she had the right to invoke the powers of such appellate organs like the Council of Elders which has her darling Dr Edward Mahama as a member. But for her to snub, demonize and bastardize the committee to create an erroneous impression that the committee was the handiwork of an individual aimed at coming after her is most unfortunate, ill-intended and most dishonest.

That a parallel NEC meeting had been held virtually to overrule her suspension; the PNC has sighted a piece of paper claiming to contain a statement emanating from a so-called virtual NEC meeting ostensibly supporting the suspended General Secretary. The Constitution of the PNC stipulates in clear and unambiguous terms what qualifies NEC. A NEC meeting must be chaired by the National Chairman and in his absence the first, second or third Vice Chairman. In the absence of any of these a Regional Chairman with the written consent of the National Chairman will preside over the NEC meeting. Was any vice chairman part of that meeting? NO. Did the National Chairman give his written consent for any Regional Chairman to chair that choreographed virtual NEC meeting? No. It is sad that this level of impudence has crept into the PNC where the General Secretary of the party impersonates with bravado without any sense of shame. The only true and recognized NEC meeting was held at the GNAT Hall on Saturday, 28^th August 2021 with twenty eight NEC members in attendance meeting the one-third requirement for a NEC meeting with the National Chairman present and chairing. Any other gathering anywhere whether physically or virtually was in exercise of the right to association and nothing more than that. In any case, we are very much aware that the technological capacity of some of the Chairmen whose names have been captured in that statement cannot allow for them to join any virtual meeting. Moreover, some of the Regional Chairman have dissociated themselves from that joke of a meeting.

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, it is quite a difficult time for the PNC as a political party. We are worried about the concerns and frustrations of our supporters and sympathizers across the country over the latest upheaval in the party. However, leadership wishes to assure them that the current impasse will be dealt with to restore sanity in the party. The decision to suspend the General Secretary was taken in the best and supreme interest of the party. It is the expectation of the National Executive Committee that asking Ms Janet Nabla to step aside will afford leadership a clear sense of focus and peace of mind to discharge its mandate of steadying the PNC and positioning it better to fulfil the aspirations of all our supporters. The persistent rants and raves of the former General Secretary creates bad press for the party rendering it unattractive as a brand worthy of any kind of support.

Leadership has taken notice of the several attempts by the suspended General Secretary to fight her suspension in the media. It is not a surprise to us because we know the conduct and character of our suspended General Secretary who has no iota of respect for any authority. The Party is taking the appropriate steps to enforce the decision by the National Executive Committee of the Party. To this end, the party has officially written to Madam Janet Nabla on her suspension and a notice of her suspension has been sent to the Electoral Commission, Embassises, Civil Society Organisations and the CID. This is the surest way to remind her that she can no more be accorded any courtesies as a General Secretary of the Party. The bitter truth to Madam Janet Nabla and those purporting to be supporting and fighting for her is that she stands suspended as it is only NEC or Congress that can overturn this decision.

Our friends from the media, the tacit involvement of Dr Edward Mahama in all of this misconduct and insubordination by the former General Secretary is baffling and painful. It is never in doubt that the only one person who has benefitted from the PNC more than anyone else is Dr Edward Mahama who on five different occasions has led the Party as a Presidential Candidate. For a combined period of twenty years, he raised funds and got funding for the activities of the party. It is therefore an act of bad faith for such a person to be the one spurring and encouraging a subordinate to disrespect and run down the leader and National Chairman of the party. This is the party upon whose shoulder Dr Edward Mahama shot to fame and received a lot of overtures in Ghanaian politics. What has he done over the years to feed the cow that gives him milk? It is sad that Ms Janet Nabla has never raised any issues of accountability for all the period that Dr Edward Mahama was signing party cheques but cannot understand why Hon David Apasera should do same.

Comrades, Ladies and Gentlemen, it is under the regime of Hon David Apasera that all party financial transactions go through the official bank account of the party. In times past, party financial transactions were mostly conducted at people’s homes and clinics. The details of the official bank account of the PNC lends credence to this. The transparency in transacting party business under Hon David Apasera has never been witnessed in the history of the PNC. If the PNC had been put in the hands of Apasera much earlier, the party’s fortunes would have improved astronomically. It therefore beats our imagination when Dr Edward Mahama stooped so low to pick up his phone and call regional chairman persuading and pleading with them not to honour the invitation for a NEC meeting because there was an agenda to suspend his sugar Janet Nabla. Why would a man honoured and revered by the PNC turn around to stab the party in such a manner? Why kill the cow that gave you milk? As a member of the Council of Elders, Dr Edward Mahama should have been interested in how he raps the Council to step in to resolve the wrangling in the party to fashion out the best way forward. Unfortunately, his towering greed, selfishness and wickedness has blinded him to the extent that he doesn’t want to believe that his successors are doing what he couldn’t do for his entire twenty year tenure as leader of the party. He is constantly using Ms Janet Nabla to sow seeds of discord intended to divide and destabilize the party front so that he could be considered a relevant stakeholder because of his long stay as a leader of the party with no achievement to show, though. This is a man who boldly and plainly told the Leader and National Chairman that he had washed his hands off the party and was never in the position to be consulted on issues of the PNC. This amounts to hypocrisy and doublestandards as he appears to be speaking from both sides of his mouth. Why take a keen interest in the NEC Meeting of the party but not prepared to carry through the plea of the Leader and the National Chairman to talk to Ms Janet Nabla to return the cheque she had intercepted from the Electoral Commission in the name of the party? Does this qualify Dr Edward Mahama as an elder of the party? Let Dr Edward Mahama beware that the PNC as a mass party will exist in perpetuity and will not capitulate to any one individual. He failed woefully to make use of his tenure as the longest serving leader of the party and must take a back seat and watch a committed and dedicated Apasera show him and his poodles how to run a party.

In sum, ladies and gentlemen of the press, you are all witnesses to the position of the party concerning the indefinite suspension of the General Secretary as contained in the official press release of

Saturday, 28^th August 2021 as well as the official suspension letter dated Monday, 30^th August 2021.

This is testament to the fact that, Ms Janet Nabla stands suspended and she has been given a oneweek ultimatum to vacate her office and handover to the National Treasurer of the party. Within this one week period, she has the leeway to access her office, beyond that period she will not be allowed any further access to the office. She is creating the impression that she is being coming to the office because her suspension is null and void. Let’s see what happens on the expiration of her one-week honeymoon period. We assure the rank and file of the PNC that the storm will calm soon and sanity will be restored to the party.

Thank you for honouring our invitation.

…………………………………

Awudu Ishaq

(National Communications Secretary)