Rawlings to blame for our defeat – NDC Regional Organiser

Former President Rawlings has been blamed for his party’s thumping defeat in the 2016 general elections last week.

The Greater Accra Regional Organizer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Anthony Nukpenu believes the founder’s absence from the campaign undermined the party’s chances at the polls.

The governing NDC’s candidate President John Mahama obtained 44.40% to lose his re-election bid to his main rival New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate Nana Akufo-Addo who obtained 53.85% of the valid votes cast.

The routing of the NDC was severest in the Central region where the governing party survived the NPP onslaught in only 4 constituencies.

From 16 parliamentary seats in 2012, the NDC now has only 4 seats. The NPP has 19 seats.

The NDC founder, known for his charisma and charm, was conspicuously missing in the NDC's campaign which analysts say is evidence of disagreement between the former President and his party.

The NDC Greater Accra Regional Organiser Anthony Nukpenu in an interview with Adom News put the blame at the door-step of former President Rawlings.

He alleged that, their founder was the key to unlocking the votes in the Volta region which is NDC’s stronghold. But he deliberately stayed out of the campaign to ensure their defeat, he said.

“He [Rawlings] did not just stay out of the campaign; he did a lot of things which resulted in voter apathy in the Volta region and other areas to ensure we lose the elections,” he stressed.

Unprecedented voter apathy in the Volta region saw a huge drop in voter turnout across the Volta region’s 26 constituencies.

“He [Rawlings] deliberately worked against the party in so many ways to undermine the integrity of the NDC and its flagbearer to make sure we were defeated at the polls," he stated.

Rawlings has been complaining that his party is losing its core values of probity and accountability and warned the party could be in opposition if it did not re-dedicate itself to these values.

The NDC Regional Secretary wondered why a father of a political party would want his children to suffer before he put things right.

However, Anthony Nukpenu said they have taken the defeat in good faith and will re-strategize and come back stronger for the 2020 elections.