UNEASY CALM IN UPPER WEST NDC (PAGE 16, DEC 16)

THE call for change in the hierarchy of the Upper West Regional branch of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has angered some party gurus in the region, including Members of Parliament (MPs).
The latest to join the fray is the MP for Jirapa, Dr Francis Bawaana Dakurah, who has lashed out at those calling for change.
Ever since Mr Mathew Sung-Aabo, also known as Matco, declared his intention of challenging the incumbent Regional Chairman, Mr Malik Issahaque, a businessman who has been in office for the past 17 years, it has resulted in an uneasy calm among the party faithful across the region.
They have accused Matco of playing politics along ethnic lines, which has been described by the party gurus as “baseless and dangerous”.
Previously, positions in the party were distributed to appease the major ethnic groups in the region.
The announcement by Matco is seen as an act of betrayal, in bad faith and a show of “disrespect”.
Mr Issahaque is seen as a father figure who, for the past years, has laid down his life for the growth and consolidation of the NDC.
While supporters of Matco are calling for a new face and vision to propel the party to a different height, the supporters of the incumbent chairman are arguing that Matco’s group is a Mafia which must not be tolerated, Matco has the democratic right to contest.
Matco’s group has been accused of fielding candidates who are from Nadowli, who are predominantly Dagabas. Issahaque has Wala and Dagaba parentage but he was born and bred in Wa.
It is against this background that Dr Dakurah held a press conference to state his position on the seeming conflict in the party in the region.
Addressing the press conference at the GNAT Hall in Wa, the MP for Jirapa said any member of the party was free, if only qualified, to contest any election in the party.
He said the Upper West Region had only one ethnic group and that is “all the ethnic groups in the region”.
He declared his support for Alhaji Issahaque and called on all party members to do same.
On recent events in the party, Dr Dakurah said former President Rawlings, like any other past leader of the country, was appreciated by all.
“We all have different approaches of seeing things and so when President Rawlings says something, he has the right to do so,” he pointed out.
He said there were no cracks in the NDC, except that sometimes people used the wrong platform and approach to put their views across.
“In my opinion, Mrs Rawlings should let go her intention to contest as national vice-chairperson of the NDC and rather sit back as a mother, just like President Rawlings who has been playing a fatherly role since he left power,” Dr Dakurah noted.
He called on all Ghanaians to rally behind the Mills government as it worked to improve the lot of the people.
Come Saturday, December 19, 2009, the NDC in the Upper West would hold its delegates conference and, unlike on previous occasions when the leadership of the party ensured that the positions were spread across the length and breadth of the region, the opposition by Matco and the other contestants, all from Nadowli, is seen as a step to change the status quo and make the congress more interesting and very competitive.