The Deputy National Director of Elections and IT of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr. Rashid Tanko-Computer, has rejected claims by Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin that the NDC is headed for a chaotic or ‘messy’ leadership contest.
According to Dr. Tanko-Computer, the party will not be distracted by what he described as a “trap” laid by the Minority Leader, insisting that the NDC has well-established internal mechanisms that have long guided its leadership selection process.
Speaking on TV3 on January 27, Dr. Tanko-Computer dismissed Afenyo-Markin’s comments as unfounded and premature.
“We are not going to fall in the trap of the Minority Leader and his group. They cannot call the shots for the NDC,” he said.
His remarks come after Alexander Afenyo-Markin accused the governing party of focusing excessively on the internal affairs of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) while allegedly ignoring what he claimed would be a looming and “messy” leadership contest within the NDC.
“The NDC is busy talking about us, but what they have forgotten is that they also have a leadership contest awaiting them. Theirs is likely to be messy,” Afenyo-Markin had stated.
Responding to these claims, Dr. Tanko-Computer stressed that the NDC’s leadership selection process has consistently been orderly and democratic.
“We have internal mechanisms of electing our presidential candidates and those mechanisms have served us well, from 1992 up till now. And so we are not going to sing from the hymn book of the NPP and what Honourable Afenyo-Markin is prescribing for the NDC,” he stated.
He added that as Deputy National Director of Elections for the party, he has not initiated any processes toward the election of a flagbearer, insisting that any speculation in that direction is premature.
“The instrument of the writ for the election has not been given to me to conduct any election or any primaries. Therefore anybody thinking in that nature is daydreaming,” he said.
Dr. Tanko-Computer explained that decisions regarding party primaries follow a clearly defined structure within the NDC.
“The structure is from Congress to National Executive Committee to Functional Executive Committee. The decision will be taken at the National Executive Committee and then they will direct the election directorates to conduct primaries. As at now there is nothing like that on the table,” he noted.
The Minority Leader had also alleged that ongoing “thank you” tours by NDC General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, and activities at Jubilee House suggested that influential actors were already positioning preferred candidates for the party’s next flagbearer.
Tanko-Computer defended the activities of the party’s National Chairman and rejected claims that the “thank you” tours have hidden political motives.
“Don’t forget he campaigned vigorously across the country in those constituencies and regions that he’s visiting. Of course, if you have done this job and the people have listened to you and voted massively for the NDC, is it not important to go and thank them? If he’s thanking them, what is the problem?” he asked.
“The other ministers are ministers of state and they’re executing their work as ministers of state. They’re not armchair ministers. So if people are doing their work, don’t sit down and think for them that this is what they’re doing,” he added.
He urged the Minority to focus on internal issues within the New Patriotic Party.
“They have their bigger problem and they must face it. Everybody has seen that their party is going down the drain,” he said.
“Honourable Afenyo-Markin and his group should not think for the NDC and indeed we are not going to follow them into their trap.”
The NPP is holding their flagbearer elections on January 31.
