The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) will be in a crunch meeting today [Tuesday June 20, 2017] to deliberate on ways to implement the recommendations in the 13-member Kwesi Botchwey report, a deputy General Secretary of the party, Koku Anyidoho has disclosed.
The 455-page report which was submitted to the party Monday June 19, 2017 captured a series of diagnosis from its members nationwide on why it lost the 2016 polls to the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Although, details of the report remain largely unknown, snippets of its recommendations leaked to the media pointed to disconnect between the party and its grassroots, urging reconnection.
Also, it recommended that a healing tour be embarked on by credible and eminent persons within the party.
Presenting the report, chairman of the committee, Professor Kwesi Botchwey again tasked the party to restore the capacity and effectiveness of the party’s organs, especially at the branch levels to reconnect to the grassroots.
Commenting on the report in an interview on Starr Today, Mr Anyidoho revealed leadership of the opposition party is satisfied with the thoroughness of the committee’s work.
“We will meet as Functional Executive Committee members, we will look at the report. On Wednesday, we are meeting as National Executive members [as well],” he told Starr Today’s co-host Naa Dedei Tettey.
Party satisfied with report
He continued that the party, following its humiliating defeat in the 2016 election began the process of rebuilding itself and that the report of the committee serves only as a catalyst of that process.
“Without going into details,” he said “any political watcher will tell you the recommendations certainly are coming out from certain major concerns raised.”
And that the most critical is that the party must put in place a team made up of “elders” to tour the nation and manage the “heads and tails.”
“That tells you that as we celebrate our 25th anniversary, and we chose the theme as “Mirroring the past into the future” there is no way you can move ahead as a political party without recognizing the fact that this party belong to certain people,” he told co-host of Starr Today Naa Dedei Tettey.
Another recommendation from the report, he said tasked the party to return to its social democratic values and “that also is a strong pointer to the fact that we cannot ignore the past and walk into a blind future.“
Asked if the party is satisfied with the work of the 13-member committee; Mr. Anyidoho replied in the affirmative saying “we are satisfied at least at the [secretary] level as at today when the General Secretary and the National Chairman who is now the leader of the party received the report; I’m sure they expressed their satisfaction and we are satisfied.”
