The Speaker of Parliament, Rt Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has accused the National Democratic Congress (NDC) of opening its doors too wide for strangers who are prepared to enter its bedroom, but will not do same for fellow party members.
This development, he argued, has created advantages for these strangers with limited appreciation of the true characteristics of the NDC to dictate the pace in the party.
He has, therefore, called for a united front among party members, whilst making a strong case for the NDC to go back to its roots and allow the principles, values, and philosophy behind the formation of the party to serve as a central nerve around which all activities must revolve.
The Speaker of Parliament made these pronouncements when he addressed members of the United Cadres Front of the NDC in Kumasi over the week-end.
He contended that relegating cadres to the background in favour of fresh faces in the NDC is one of the biggest mistakes made by the party, adding that members of the United Cadres Front are the right people with a better understanding of the principles and values of the party, and, therefore, deserve to be assigned a frontal role so as to hold members to its true values and ideals underpinning the formation of the NDC.
Mr. Bagbin also noted that the time had come for people to come to the realisation that it was only Ghanaians who could develop the country, and “same must inspire our drive to make contributions towards national issues without inducement.”
According to him, the destiny of Ghana lay in the hands of Ghanaians, thus, placing a duty of selfless leadership and concerted efforts on the people to pursue achievable long term objectives capable of redefining the economic fortunes of the country.
He noted that the inability of the country to sustain the implementation of the nation’s long term development agenda hugely accounts for its economic woes.
He reminded the Cadres not to allow material considerations to affect their resolve to stay true to the service of the nation.
Touching on the historical background of the NDC, he said members of the United Cadres Front were well aware that their role in the formation of the party was a call to national duty, and, therefore, needed to continue to hold high the revolutionary spirit of the party, which, he said, was rooted in social justice, transparency, probity, and accountability.
He condemned what he calls “the emerging trend in Ghanaian politics, where the teeming youth were willing to sell their conscience to politicians for material and monetary considerations without doing a critical analysis of the results of such decisions.”
This, he said, opens doors for politicians with monetary influence to become the final decision makers of the nation.
On his part, the General Secretary of NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, agreed with the views expressed by the Speaker of Parliament, and stressed the need for the NDC, as a political party, to go back to the drawing board to re-examine some of the decisions made about the fortunes of the party some years ago.
He was of the view that the time had come for members of the United Cadres Front to take their proper place in the party.
In all, a total of 300 young men and women who joined the cadres front in the Ashanti Region were inaugurated as members of the group.
The occasion, which also marked the 38th Anniversary celebration of the United Cadres Front in the party, was used to launch a newsletter for the NDC.
From C. K. Clement, Kumasi
Read Full Story
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram
Google+
YouTube
LinkedIn
RSS