President Mahama and his NDC’s 2016 Election Game among Northern tribes exposed-
Part I President Mahama and his NDC’s desperation to hold on to power is again demonstrated in the recent ministerial reshuffle. Of particular interest is the appointment of the Northern Regional minister (designate) – Abubakar Abdullah.
Mr. Abubakar Abdullah is a known PNC man who has contested and lost parliamentary elections on his party’s ticket in Walewale. However, he has somehow been fast- tracked by a desperate President Mahama through the ranks of the NDC, firstly; to go unopposed as the NDC’s Parliamentary Candidate (PC) for Walewale Constituency and to become the Northern Regional Minister designate- all within six months.
What a quick job promotion! Could this be the fastest anyone has ever risen within a political party in the relatively short democratic history of Ghana? The leader of any democratic political organisation would have been investigated for making a decision in favour of a non- member at the expense of hard working members who have toiled to raise the profile of that organisation in such manner. No wonder there is currently brewing animosity, rancour and dissatisfaction within the NDC in the Walewale constituency.
The question is why this unprecedented or if you like supersonic rise in rank by a man who is not known to be a member of the NDC? When President Mahama became president, he used his accidental ascension to the high office to target certain tribes in the north for varied reasons. Mamprusis and Konkombas in the NDC have suffered the most, in this respect from tribal neglect and retribution by the presidency both in appointments and in development, generally.
In a reaction to this ‘insult’, core traditional NDC voters in the Walewale Constituency started to mount public protests and defections to other parties- particularly the NPP. Other grassroot die-hards have vowed to remain in the NDC but will not vote for the party in 2016. Realising the level of anger and disaffection among NDC members and the widely neglected tribes, President Mahama in desperation, adopted a strategy to target these tribes (including Mamprusis and Konkombas) in the last nine months to election 2016.
The case of the Mamprusis particularly gives President Mahama sleepless nights due to the inroads made by Alhaji Dr Mahmoud Bawumia and the NPP into the Mamprugu territory. In his panic and fear, President Mahama rather did the unthinkable; He ignored his party members and structures and offered the NDC’s parliamentary candidacy in Walewale to a known PNC member who contested the same seat two times on the ticket of PNC but lost on both occasions. Then he went on to appoint the same PNC member as the Northern Regional Minister.
This is the same Abubakar man who has chastised the NDC in Walewale for years as a result of the ruling party’s neglect of Mamprugu. This is the man who, over the years has given the constituency NDC leadership the hardest of time, but President Mahama, in his desperation has not only imposed a stranger on his party folks as their Parliamentary candidate but also their regional minister with absolute control over huge resources in an election year. Is it any surprise that much of the facts in this article were obtained from NDC party members?
In the case of the Konkombas, President Mahama did just what he did with the Mamprusis by appointing a known PNC man who contested and lost parliamentary elections two times in his hometown of Saboba in the Northern Region. The case of the Konkombas will be explored further in part II of this article. President Mahama truly believes that “Ghanaians especially Mamprusis and Konkombas have short memories” so appointing two known PNC gentlemen only 9 months to voting day will overturn seven years of tribal neglect and retribution.
The facts on the ground speak otherwise. If anything at all, these two knee- jerk appointments have rather further divided the NDC in the respective constituencies (Walewale and Saboba). Local NDC leaders feel that their efforts to convince their aggrieved tribes men and women to give the NDC one more chance to remedy the wrongs and tribal injustice done them over the years of President Mahama’s presidency have been undermined by the same man.
Privately, key Mamprusis and Konkombas in the NDC will tell you that under the late president Mills, they were duly recognised in appointments but upon taking over accidentally as president, President Mahama sacked all Mamprusis and Konkombas who were appointed by president Mills. Some people in Mamprugu appear to be happy that at least Mr. Abubakar has earned himself a reward for consistently highlighting the neglect of his people by President Mahama while others are of the view that in very typical President Mahama fashion, Mr. Abubakar has only been bribed to keep quiet over the neglect of the people of Mamprugu due to the impending elections but will be dumped IF President Mahama were to be re-elected.
They are very certain that Mr. Abubakar’s appointment wouldn’t make any difference in the way they will vote- a view shared by local NDC members. Part II of this article, will be exploring the nature of the Konkomba appointment, how President Mahama shivers each time Mr. Bugri Naabu (NPP Northern Regional Chairman) speaks out on how Konkombas have been neglected, how an outspoken NDC Konkomba has seemingly been sent into exile as “ambassador” and how in April, 2015 the Konkomba Youth Association (KOYA) was bribed a brand new four wheel drive, a fully equipped tractor and the immediate appointment of the then President of the KOYA as an aid (without portfolio) in the office of the president.
Alolo Mutaka - Nasara UK
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