NDC internal elections must be free, fair and transparent – Godfred Wumbei

Northern Regional Chair hopeful of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) is calling for free, fair and transparent elections at the branch, constituency and regional levels.

As a former Regional Organizer, Godfred Wumbei Apasinaba, known in private life as Yellowman in a statement decried what appeared to be votes buying that characterized the last internal contest to elect executives at branch, constituency, regional levels, adding that it should not be repeated.

According to him, the incidence of votes buying in the NDC’s internal contests caused a lot of damage to the party in  the region at the 2020 polls.

He insists that the upcoming internal elections at all levels should be devoid of any machinations, to build a united NDC for a resounding victory in 2024.

Below is the full text:

Towards Stronger Branches in 2024
As NDC prepares itself for the task in 2024 we must take keen interest in strengthening the party at all levels and more importantly at the branches. The efficiency of every political party is anchored in the vibrancy of its grassroots, and it behoves us as members of our beloved party to remind ourselves as we move towards our branch elections and reorganization.

For me and other concerned members who feel obliged to give everything we can give to have a strong base, I find it necessary to remind our members in northern region that the party has a lot of work to do in our region and starting with a functioning branch system is the first step to victory in 2024.

However, we cannot have a functioning branch system if issues of interferences and maneuvering continue to undermine our branch elections and reorganization processes. In the run up to the last elections, there were widespread complaints and allegations about immense interference in branch elections. Such allegations, true or otherwise, did quite a lot of damage to the party’s electoral fortunes across several constituencies in the region.

Going forward, I would like to offer my two cents to us all. We cannot have the vibrancy we will need to win and most constituencies in 2024. We must discourage all forms of interferences in our branch elections. The system must be allowed to elect hardworking and deserving branch executives to make our victory a reality. It’s not helpful if people with their personal and parochial interests maneuver to have their preferred candidates become branch executives, irrespective of whether they can do the job or not.

I therefore call on all NDC faithful in the northern region to be crusaders of free and fair branch elections to give us the needed efficiency to win the next elections. If the sad story of the region in the last two elections must change, it should start from the branches and eschewing all forms of interferences and maneuvering is the best way to go.

Northern region has a big contribution to make towards NDC’s victory in the 2024 elections and for that matter need to revisit our strategy to build stronger branches.

God bless NDC.

Godfred Wumbei Apasinaba

Source: africaneditors.com/King Saha Abdullah, Contributor