[ 2017-03-13 ]

NDC fights Mahama's girl
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC)
appears to be in disarray following the massive
humiliating defeat in the 2016 general election as
members, including a Deputy General Secretary of
the party, Koku Anyidoho, attacked Joyce Bawa
Mogtari, spokeswoman for former President John
Mahama.

Joyce Bawa Mogtari, former Deputy Minister for
Transport, had sought to suggest that the NDC
wouldn’t be bothered, should the New Patriotic
Party (NPP) continue to rule Ghana for the next
eight years – a statement which has apparently
angered the rank and file of the party.

Joyce, speaking on Starr Chat, last Wednesday,
Joyce disclosed that for the NPP to rule from 2016
to 2024 is normal and shows the beauty of
Ghana’s democracy.

“Well, I don’t really mind if NPP rules for
eight years; it’s democracy and really not an
issue. When they lost, you can imagine how they
felt when we moved into the Flagstaff House and I
know the feeling… We’ve all been there and
that is the beauty of our democracy,” the former
president’s spokesperson stated.

Supporters of the NDC however, were demanding
clarification on Bawa’s stance indicating that
the party had still not risen up from the
humiliating defeat it suffered in the hands of the
NPP in the 2016 elections.

Countering the statement made by Joyce Bawa
Mogtari, Koku Anyidoho, deputy general secretary
of the NDC, posits that the former isn’t the
official mouthpiece of the party and entreated the
general public to take her comment with a pinch of
salt.

“Our own investigations show that we are ready
to come back to power in 2020…she has just
shared her thoughts which don’t reflect the
views of the NDC.  She has no authority to speak
for the NDC…Our National Chairman is our leader
and the secretariat is still working,” Koku
said.

Mr. Anyidoho advised Mogtari to stick to her job
of speaking for ex-president Mahama and not to
assume a new role of speaking for the party.

“She can speak for the former president but
shouldn’t speak for the NDC. The former
president only announced she speaks for him but
the party hasn’t said so. She only expressed her
views and not that of the party,” he said.

The deputy communications officer of the NDC,
Fred Abgenyo, said also on Asempa fm that the
party’s headquarters was overwhelmed with phone
calls and complaints on Thursday after Bawa’s
threatening views.

Mr Agbenyo expressed, “As far as the party
leadership is concerned, we are well prepared and
that, by God’s grace, by 2020 we’ll come back
to power and that is what we are focused on. I
cannot even tell whether what the spokesperson of
the former president said was the position of
former President Mahama or her own views that she
expressed.”

Motgari’s U-Turn

However, Madam Joyce Bawa Mogtari after being
blasted by some of her own party officials,
claimed she was misinterpreted over the statement
attributed to her.

According to Bawa, she is not the mouthpiece of
the opposition NDC, for which reason she could not
claim that the party is not ready for the 2020
elections.

In a statement issued to clarify the matter, she
said, “I have read with some disappointment,
news reports attributed to some officials of our
party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), in
which I am accused of stating among others that
the NDC is not ready for the 2020 national
elections.

“While no such statement was uttered by me on
the Starr Chat, a personality chat show on March
08, 2017, let me also state that I have never
stated or ever claimed that I am the spokesperson
for the NDC or that I speak for the party.”

“I remain a proud member of the NDC. My presence
on the Starr Chat was, however, in my personal
capacity on the occasion of the 2017 International
Women’s Day.”

“In response to a question about the plans of HE
John Mahama, I indicated that I had no discussions
with him about contesting the next elections, and
added that whether he contested the 2020 or the
2024 elections, he would still be a relatively
young man and be able to contest.”

“The host of the show then interjected to ask
whether that meant I ‘know the NPP will have
eight years,’ to which I responded that it
wouldn’t really matter because among others,
that was the beauty of our democracy.”

She added, “The above cannot, by a stretch of
anyone’s imagination, be a statement from me,
Joyce Bawah Mogtari, that the NDC is not ready for
2020 or that I will be happy with an eight-year
rule for the NPP.”

Source - dailyguideafrica.com

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