The General Secretary of National Democratic Congress (NDC), Fiifi Fiavi Kwetey has justified the calls to rescind the party’s initial decision to nullify the Ayawaso East primaries and it’s outcomes.
In an interview with Tv3’s Kemini Amanor, the host of “Hot Issues” show, General Secretary of National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Fiifi Fiavi Kwetey addressed the aftermath of Ayawaso East primary elections and its outcomes.
Speaking, the General Secretary in his submission iterated the ethos of NDC resorting to the numerous decisions they agreed on in relation to their internal primary elections which had attracted an intense scornful public views.
“It’s not as simple as that, don’t forget, I always to you that we are talking about something that is really pervasive. There is no member that is in Parliament today, who will tell you that they do not have to engage in this same practice, there’s not one. I am a politician and I know, they [politician] also know.
“And it is not only that, even the political parties themselves know, in the conducts of sometimes our elections, we are compelled to resort to some of these. Why? That is what the society has accepted now – so people literally tell you that, if you don’t do this, we’re not going to vote,” he said.
He then stressed on the factors which have accounted to political actors resorting to vote buying, “I am telling you that it is a society-wide issues and it must be approached from that bigger perspective.”
Whiles admitting to the wrongs which had engulfed their party primary elections at Ayawaso East, he seized the medium to highlight the ‘best’ way to find a lasting solution.
“If we want to resolve this issue, the best way to do it, is to look for comprehensive solutions – so simply scapegoating one or two individuals does not resolve the issue,” Mr Kwetey said.
The Host, Kemini Amanor followed up with a question, “but someone will say, you’ve missed the opportunity to do that, to be different.” Mr Fiavi Kwetey with no hesitations answered, “not at all, Baba Jamal as an individual won, he absolutely had some penalty – the fact that his appointment has been terminated by the President. The party also recommended that, other people who took part in that primaries, who have government positions, whether on Board or C.E.O positions should also be recalled.
“So the party has not actually allowed this to get away and the party has now made the recommendations that we should have a seven member committee that goes into a comprehensive proposal as to how we can resolve the issues.” Mr Fiifi Fiavi Kwetey iterated.
Contrary to position of the National democratic Congress, Prsident of IMANI Africa, Mr Franklin Kudjoe has urged leadership of NDC to ‘annul’ the outcomes of the primaries, “the NDC should annul the annul the Ayawaso East elections and punish culprits who violated the electoral code. The results were influenced by naked bribery. NDC be different,” Mr Franklin said.
Inconclusion, the National Democratic Congress have decided to stick with the outcomes of their internal elections in order not to further delay the general elections of set to be conducted by the Electoral Commission whiles meting out various degrees of punishment to the perpetrators of the acts.