Mahama must call sycophantic campaigners to order – Kumbuor

Member of Council of Elders of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has charged the party’s 2020 flagbearer to call to order sycophants rigorously campaigning for his return as presidential candidate for the third time.

Dr Benjamin Kumbuor says such crusaders will not only create enemies for John Mahama but have the potential to destroy the NDC’s reorganisation drive aimed at annexing power from the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) in 2024.

He described as childish and premature the conversations ongoing within the party for a possible return of the former President to lead the party into the 2024 Election.

The former Interior Minister told Evans Mensah on JoyNews’ PM Express Monday, that the party’s mechanism and systems must be allowed to operate rather than imposing individuals on the party.

“John Mahama has his presence; a leading and formidable person in the party but does that mean that John Mahama himself accepts that he is now in control of the party? I do not believe that is the way he thinks. People should not be in a hurry to invent enemies for John Mahama.

“I don’t know the motivation for the people to want to sandbar John Mahama in that way…It is childish, uninformed, unscientific and anti-John Mahama. I believe he will deal with it,” he indicated.

Over the weekend, there were two parallel NDC meetings but with one agenda.

While the party leadership held a retreat in Ho which was attended by Mr Mahama, other leading members including Dr Kumbuor also organised a forum at Tema to save the opposition party from what they described as a crisis.

Many observers have since attributed the development to some alleged division in the NDC party.

Although the next election is three years away, conversations about who becomes the party’s flagbearer is already on the front burner with accusations of some individuals scheming against the 2016 and 2020 Presidential Candidate, John Mahama.

In March 2021, while reacting to the Economist Intelligence Unit Election report on Joy FM, Deputy General Secretary of the NDC, Peter Buamah Otokunor claimed that an introduction of a new presidential candidate aside John Mahama in 2024 will be ridiculous.

But Dr Kumbuor indicated that such attempts to set aside the laid down structures of the party and do the bidding of a particular person will cost the party dearly.

He questioned the national executive officer’s motive for publicly declaring support for a candidate even when the party has not yet examined its performance in the 2020 polls to chart a common path.

The former MP for Nandom further accused some elements within the party who are to answer hard frontal questions on accountability of being the same individuals in a hurry to introduce the idea of succession.

“If I were in John Mahama’s position and I have seen bits of it with Jerry John Rawlings; when you start behaving in this sycophantic manner, giving the impression that you are the one on whose health and breath John Mahama is surviving politically; many people will not take that.

“They will find an opportunity to draw your attention publicly that if that is the line you are running, you are not running it for me,” the former Majority Leader suggested.

The Member of the NDC Council of Elders is of the view that the party will be committing a serious political blunder should the remedial begin with a succession plan rather than reorganisation drive as well as galvanising the grassroots for action.

Dr Kumbuor also bemoaned the absence of systems to address internal politics affecting party cohesion.

He, however, called for conversations to be held around the subject.