Cracks In Northern Region NDC - Youth Group At Loggerheads With Regional Executives

A leading member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Alhaji Ibrahim Mobilla, and a pro-NDC youth group, ‘Wani yaafi wani’, all in the Northern Region, have predicted doom for the party in the December polls if the national executives fail to act swiftly to whip the regional executives to work.

According to them, the regional executives are only engaged in the rhetoric of winning back seats lost to the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2012 elections.

Some youth groups in the Northern Region have even travelled to Accra to confront their Members of Parliament (MPs) and national executives of the party on the looming danger.

Now, Majority Leader in Parliament, Mr Alban Bagbin, on Sunday confirmed the concerns of the youth when he said at the NDC’s campaign launch in Cape Coast that winning enough seats for the NDC in the upcoming parliamentary election will be an uphill task for the party.

Mr Bagbin explained that considering the spate at which some members who lost their bid to become parliamentary candidates of the party are contesting as independent candidates, it would be difficult for the NDC to win more seats.

“The area of uncertainty is the number of parliamentary seat the party is going to win, and the campaign team must adopt a multi-purpose campaign strategy tailored to solving the interpersonal issue,” he said.

Speaking to The Finder, Yussif Abdul Rahman, leader of ‘Wani yaafi wani’, a youth group based in Tamale, said the group is at loggerheads with regional executives over the party’s lack of control for effective campaigning.

The youth group, which is known for its active grassroots campaign for the party, threatens the party’s top hierarchy not to hand over campaign funds to the regional executives, noting that such a step would be a recipe for defeat, he said.

He explained that the actions and inactions of the Northern Regional executives of the NDC have eroded the enthusiasm of most of the youth groups in the region and are rather bent on quarrelling over contracts.

“The executives are not concerned about the party; all they want is contracts. We have heard and seen them quarrel over contracts several times. Even Hajj tickets are given to either their girlfriends or their family members when we have elder people within the party who deserve those tickets,” Abdul Rahman alleged.

According to him, many youth groups are tired of the abuse and neglect meted out to them by the regional executives, adding that they were compelled to use their own resources, such as motorbikes and cars, in running the party’s campaigns.

On his part, an elder of the party, Alhaji Ibrahim Mobilla told this paper that the party in the region needs to sit up because the executives are not working and it appears they came to enrich themselves rather than work for the party.

“The leadership of the party is weak and the youth seem to have no hope in them; the enthusiasm for the party has gone down. The executives do not go round to visit youth groups and party faithful to inform them of the happenings in the party as well as the government.”

Alhaji Mobilla appealed to President John Dramani Mahama to meet with the leadership of the youth groups in the region to plead with them to vote for him based on his achievements so far.

“The only solution to the problem is for President Mahama to hold a meeting with the leadership of the youth groups to let them know that the executives don’t own the party but everybody and that they should not refuse to vote because of the executives.”

The dominance of the NDC in the region, especially Dagbon, is usually linked to the unfortunate incident in Yendi under the NPP administration.

In the 2012 elections, the NPP won 10 seats in the region, which came as a shock to many, but 70% of the seats were won in non-Dagomba-speaking areas where the Dagbon chieftaincy conflict do not place in their politics.

When contacted, the regional secretary declined to comment on the issue.