body-container-line-1

NDC Congress; '3 big figures ' to have bowed out

By MyJoyOnline
NDC L-R: Portorfe, Adams and Abubakar.
NOV 18, 2018 LISTEN
L-R: Portorfe, Adams and Abubakar.

As the National Democratic Congress gradually draws the curtains on its historic national delegates’ congress, some key faces in the party have gone to bed.

National Chairman, Kofi Portuphe; National Organiser, Kofi Adams and National Youth Organiser Sidi Abubakar did not contest their positions or file to contest other positions in the Congress that was held at the Fantasy Dome at the Trade Fair Centre in Accra.

Mr. Portuphe is the first to occupy the position of National Coordinator of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) following his appointment in 1997 to 2001. A position he returned to in 2009 to 2015.

In December 2014, he contested for the National Chairmanship of National Democratic Congress party at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium and won. He defeated incumbent Dr. Kwabena Adjei, the man regarded as a colossus in the NDC family.

Dr. Kwabena AdjeiDr. Kwabena Adjei

However, following pressure from civil society groups, Mr. Portuphe resigned his post as NADMO Coordinator in May 2015.

Outgoing National Organiser, Kofi Adams who held the position for only one term, surprised many party followers when he announced that he would no longer vie for the post. The decision was to prepare him for “a much higher calling” when nominations were opened, he explained.

“I made a promise to my supporters and followers that I was doing just a term and I don’t want to go back on those words as I want to carry on to other levels in the party,” he is reported to have told the Daily Graphic in August 2018.

For Sidi Abukakar, little was seen or heard of him since he surprisingly won the position as National Youth Organiser in the hotly contested election in Kumasi which also included the incumbent, Ludwig Akpene Hlodze.

Ludwig Akpene HlodzeLudwig Akpene Hlodze

Youth groups in the party criticised his leadership as ineffective and culminated in the painful loss the party suffered in the 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections.

Lone wolf
For incumbent General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, 2018 is not the time to hang his political boots despite the fierce match given him by his deputy, Samuel Koku Anyidoho.

Johnson Asiedu NketiaJohnson Asiedu Nketia

Asiedu Nketia interestingly was the sole surviving member of the executive that went into the 2014 national delegates’ congress in Kumasi. He is hoping to repeat same feat as he is confident of victory over Anyidoho.

Popularly known as General Mosquito, the 62-year-old politician is credited for re-invigorating the NDC ahead of the 2008 elections which the opposition party then led by late Prof. John Atta Mills, won after second round of balloting.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Jerry Tsatro Mordy

body-container-line